


never really knew that you could dance like that (you make a woman go mad)

by scully_romanova_of_asshai



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Angst, Bisexual Kara Danvers, Dancing, F/F, Fluff, I did break my no people from other shows rule with sara, Lesbian Lena Luthor, Slow Burn, also lena doesn't know anyone at the start in this, and lena is a star, and they're v gay, but I feel like that's reasonable, dancing with the stars au, guys I almost forgot to tag jess ohmigod, idiots to lovers, is there plot¿? a v small amount of plot, just bc I thought it would be kinda weird if she already knew like half of the people on the show, kara is a pro, mostly they just dance and are idiots, obviously, potentially shall add more tags as I think of them, we shall see
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-20
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:53:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 29,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23222059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scully_romanova_of_asshai/pseuds/scully_romanova_of_asshai
Summary: Lena is convinced to go on Dancing with the Stars. Kara is her dance partner. Lena finds she likes it more than she'd expected.
Relationships: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 80
Kudos: 153





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> so the title is a reference to 'Dance Like This' but it turns out I imagined that it was an actual line and it's more like a combination of multiple lines, but that's fineee

_What the fuck am I doing?_

Lena is currently sitting on the floor of a dance studio, looking at a picture on her phone, wearing exercise clothes. _Exercise clothes_. A couple of weeks ago, she’d owned one set of exercise clothes, for the rare occasion when she simultaneously has the time to do yoga and doesn’t think it’s a stupid activity _(she goes back and forth on her yoga opinions a lot)_. Now she has exercise clothes for every day of the week! _(yes, they match, she’s not a heathen) (kara’s do not match, no matter how much she argues that pants covered in tiny donuts and a tank with an ice cream cone obviously go together, come on, lena)_.

Lena startles at the feeling of hands on her shoulders before sinking into it quickly enough to be settled when the chin comes to rest on the top of her head. “We look good there, huh?” Lena can feel the vibrations from Kara speaking above her head, and she flushes slightly at her words, glad that Kara is not in a position to be able to see it. She focuses back on the photo in her hands. It’s the one they took for the official announcement of their partnership for the show, and she has to admit, they _do_ look good. Very good.

They had taken _so many photos_ that day, and yeah, Lena’s a celebrity _(though she doesn’t really like to use that term for herself)_ , but she’s not that kind of celebrity. The photos she’s usually in are generally taken at galas or press conferences, when she’s there to do something else, like publicize something her company is doing or make business connections, not take photos _all day_. The other photos of her are generally taken without her knowledge, and while she dislikes that for more reasons than one, at least she doesn’t have to pose for them.

So she obviously hadn’t been expecting for the photo shoot to go very well. However, there was one positive, which was that Kara was there. She’s learning that things are generally _(she hesitates to use the word ‘always’ lightly, though it might be valid here)_ significantly better when Kara is present. 

Kara had been a pro at the photo shoot _(which was perhaps to be expected; she’s literally a pro, after all. perhaps photo shoots are not exactly what her job title is intended to refer to, but she no doubt is no stranger to them)_. She’d chatted and joked around with everyone present, clearly knowing everyone well, asking specific questions about their families and interests. She’d put Lena at ease by trying out some goofy positions and putting on her so-called ‘chipmunk’ playlist _(chipmunks are cute and happy, lena, what other reason do I need to name a playlist after them? have you ever been around a real-live chipmunk, kara?)_ , which Lena was fairly sure was at least 80% composed of NSYNC _(not that she was complaining. just don’t tell anyone that)_. And when it was time to get serious, Kara had seamlessly slipped into that persona. And at a Dancing with the Stars photo shoot, serious meant sexy. And Kara got seriously sexy _(honestly lena isn’t entirely sure how she’s still alive. she came very close to passing out at multiple points)_.

So that’s how they’ve ended up here. The photo that had been chosen is actually one of the earlier ones they had taken _(lena would like to be upset that they didn’t finish the shoot earlier, but she honestly can’t be, due to reasons touched on earlier)_. Lena had had her hair down in _(carefully controlled)_ curls and been wearing a tiny green dress _(which kara had casually mentioned she’d suggested because it would match her eyes, and that’s not something that lena can even attempt to process)_ , and while it certainly hadn’t been something she’d ever wear for any other reason, she can admit that she’d looked good, particularly with Kara by her side in a matching green button down and black slacks, with her hair mostly pulled back into a low ponytail except for a few strands left to frame her face. Kara had wrapped her _(very muscular)_ arms around Lena’s waist from behind and placed her chin on her shoulder, somehow managing to make it look _(and feel)_ possessive, rather than ridiculous, like Lena would have expected. They’d been instructed to make ‘sex eyes’ at the camera, at which point Kara had whispered in her ear, “I know this is probably weird, but your eyes look like sex all the time anyway, so just give it a shot,” at which point Lena had almost choked, before managing to stop herself and just do as she said.

So maybe Lena had lost a few years of her life that day, but at the moment it seemed to be worth it.

It’s been three days since then, and they’ve been practicing for the first show non-stop, which is probably a big part of why she’s questioning what she’s doing – one – this is much harder than she’d expected it to be, and while she’s not one to quit on anything, two – this is essentially a vacation, no matter how much Jess argues that she’s still working, just less, and the dancing makes up for it _(jess is a fan of the show, and generally prone to trying to get her to take a vacation; her opinion doesn’t count)_ , and though Lena hasn’t really had a real vacation in, well, ever _(she’s been told science conferences don’t count)_ , she’s familiar with the concept, and is fairly sure they’re not supposed to require anything particularly difficult on the part of vacationers.

Thus, her break to sit on the floor and die a little bit. And look at Instagram. Which is not something she generally does, but neither is dancing, so who’s to say what she does and doesn’t do?

Her mind automatically answers that _(rhetorical)_ question. Jess. Her assistant honestly gets away with far too much. She is the reason Lena’s even on the show, after all. 

\----------

Jess was still standing in front of her desk, even as Lena opened up her laptop and pulled a stack of forms that needed to be signed closer to her. She looked back up, raising an eyebrow. “Yes?” She and her assistant have something of an odd friendship _(though she doesn’t know if jess would necessarily call it that, as she probably has real friends, unlike lena)_ , but the girl usually heads back to her desk immediately after briefing Lena in the mornings _(lena suspects it’s more about needing coffee than for any other reason)_ , rather than looking slightly nervous and not saying anything like she was right then. Lena raised her other eyebrow to match the first and fixed her full attention on Jess, as she clearly needed a bit more prompting.

“There’s a proposal for you!” she finally blurted out.

“Okayyy,” Lena drew the word out, intonation rising at the end to make it into a question. “What is it, a marriage proposal?” That was the only explanation for Jess’s strange behavior. _(she’s received one marriage proposal before. it was from a man. she said no. obviously) (not because it was from a man) (well. not just because it was from a man. the fact that he was a random person she’d never met also came into play) ( ~~she might’ve said yes if it had been from kara~~ )_.

“No!” Jess said a bit too loudly, laughing slightly harder than the question warranted, particularly since it was actually somewhat reasonable for Lena to ask, given her past experience. She was getting a little concerned when Jess asked, “Have you heard of Dancing with the Stars?”

Lena took a moment to parse the question, as Jess had kind of spit it out in a rush, before she confusedly smiled. “Yeah? That dancing show with the celebrities?” _(she is not going to tell jess that the reason she knows about it is that lex had been a little obsessed with being on it, she is not going to mention that, nope)_ “Why?”

“They’ve asked if you’d like to be on the show. I think you should do it.”

Lena’s automatic impulse was to burst into laughter. She held it back. “Why?” she repeated, a bit more incredulously.

“Well, for the most part, it’ll be good for PR,” Jess said, calming down a little as she got into a conversation that she’d clearly practiced for. “Things have been getting better, but you and I both know there are still some issues after everything that happened with Lex.”

Lena hadn’t deemed a response necessary, just as Jess hadn’t deemed it necessary to make that seem at all like a question.

“Also, it should be fun.” At Lena’s incredulous look, she continued, “I know, I know, you don’t need fun, you’re a Luthor, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have any. And besides, they _really_ want you. Enough that you should be able to make some demands, if you want. I’ve drawn up a list.” She pulled a piece of paper from behind her back. Jess had clearly given this a lot of thought.

 _On second thought, perhaps she hasn’t_ , Lena thought as she looked at the paper. “Jess,” she said.

“Yes?” Jess responded, grinning a little sheepishly.

“Jess. This just says ‘no men’ in all caps.”

Jess’s shoulders came up almost to her ears in an awkward shrug. “Welllll,” she said, “You’re a lesbian.”

“Thank you for reminding me,” Lena said dryly. “I nearly forgot.”

Jess was blushing. _Blushing_. “Noo, I know you know, I just—” She paused and took a breath, composing herself. “A lot of people have been wanting them to have a same-sex couple on the show for a long time. They’ve never done it before. I think you have a good opportunity here, both for L-Corp, and, well, for the LGBTQ community in general.”

Lena smiled, softening. Jess was clearly one of those people she’d mentioned, but it did actually sound like a pretty good idea. She could look stupid for a cause. Probably. She looked at Jess standing there in obvious anticipation of her decision. She smiled. “Okay.”

Jess stood frozen for a few seconds, blinking. “Okay?” she echoed. “Okay!” And suddenly she was hugging Lena, and Lena was the frozen one, before she took a breath and managed to wrap her arms around Jess, awkwardly patting her on the back. Jess seemed to realize herself a few seconds later, stepping back and blushing again. “Well, I’ll leave you to it. Your first meeting is at eleven.”

She was extra professional for the rest of the day, as if to make up for how personal she had been that morning, but Lena just smiled at her each time she saw her _(except when her call with bruce wayne had just ended, that man gave her too much of a headache)_.

\----------

So, yeah. Jess tells her what she does and doesn’t do. But Lena’s finding that Kara can do that too, which is why as soon as the words, “Alrighty-o, dancing time,” are out of Kara’s mouth, Lena finds herself up and practically bouncing on her feet, despite the fact that her calves feel like she’s just run a 10k _(not a marathon, lena knows she couldn’t run that far even in her imagination)_.

The dance they’re preparing for the first show is a cha-cha-cha _(not that lena really knows what that means)_ to a song called ‘American Money’ _(“you’re kidding me.” kara raised her hands in appeasement. “it’s a good song!”)_. All Lena really knows so far is that there’s a _lot_ of hip movement _(like. a lot.)_ and also supposedly a dramatic entrance _(supposedly in that kara has told her there’s going to be a dramatic entrance, but hasn’t seen fit yet to tell her what that actually means in this case and lena is kind of scared to discover what counts as dramatic for this show)_.

They have a little longer to practice for the first show than they will for the rest of the weeks _(assuming lena doesn’t get eliminated on the first day. kara has assured her that that’s impossible - everyone dances the first and second shows, and besides, there’s no way you’re gonna be the first to go lena, we’re making it to the end, you and me – and it was kind of an adorable speech, all said, but lena remains skeptical)_. This is the excuse Lena gives herself for not yet understanding what a cha-cha-cha is _(her other excuse is kara being a little distracting, but she’s reluctant to use that one as it doesn’t bode very well for her)_.

One would think that this extra time would mean they didn’t have to practice quite as much, but that is not the case. It just means that _along_ with practicing, they also have a bunch of other things they have to do. Which involves interacting with _a lot_ of people.

Lena is not great at interacting with people.

Scratch that. Lena is great at interacting with people. Interacting with people is not great _for_ Lena. It makes her _tired_. Which she usually ignores as much as possible _(she has been known to stay awake for three days before. last time she made it two before jess sullied her coffee with sleeping pills)_ , but still. So now that she’s getting more exercise than she’s had in a _long_ time _(it’s been quite a while since her fencing days)_ and she’s around people, _new_ people, all day every day, she’s _really tired (so tired)_. 

Which is maybe why she keeps falling. Like, a lot. A _lot_ of falling is happening. It doesn’t really hurt, it’s just annoying. Even Kara seems to be getting a bit frustrated, though she’s gallantly trying to hide it _(she can’t help that she wears her feelings on her sleeve. or her face. lena is tired, okay, let her think stupid things)_.

So next time she falls, Lena doesn’t take Kara’s offered hand, instead hugging her legs to herself tightly and hiding her face against her knees. “I’m sorry,” she mumbles into them, hoping Kara can hear her. She hugs her legs more tightly, wanting to feel the strain in her arms. She feels Kara sit down next to her, warmth radiating from the blonde woman making her suddenly realize that she’s _cold_. She raises her head towards her, blinking the spots away from where she pressed a little too hard. “I’m sorry,” she repeats, before turning away and yawning wide, chin dropping back to her knees.

She feels Kara scooch closer to her before there’s a hand in her hair, releasing it from its messy bun and sliding through it, fingernails scratching softly against her scalp. She turns her head slightly to rest her cheek against a knee, involuntarily letting out a soft hum. “It’s okay,” Kara says. “I mean, I kind of don’t entirely understand how you keep falling, like, I’m not even allowed to lift you for this dance, but you’re clearly really tired, and, like, I know it’s a lot, so, it’s okay.” 

And Lena knows she should move away, or do something other than blink slow, but the movement of Kara’s hand in her hair didn’t stutter even as her words did, and Lena has never pretended not to like nice things, so she lets herself have this for now.

She’s not sure at what point she falls asleep; it feels like only a moment passes between then and when she wakes up on her side, head pillowed on Kara’s thigh, fingers still shifting soothingly through her hair. Kara smiles down at her. “Better?” Lena smiles back, eyes scrunching closed, and lets that be her answer.

They get back to work _(though Kara makes Lena stop practically every five minutes to take a drink of water)_ , and Lena doesn’t fall once the rest of the day.

\----------

She’d met Kara for the first time in her office at L-Corp. She’d left the details up to Jess, who was clearly more invested than she was _(though she’d somewhat regretted giving her full control when jess had decided she wouldn’t be sharing any of those details with lena because she wanted everything to be a surprise)_. 

Lena came into work on a Wednesday morning to discover a camera in a corner of her office near the ceiling. She rolled her eyes and thrust a middle finger towards it before climbing up on a chair and disabling it _(kara bursts out laughing when she sees this in the video package before their first dance. ‘shut up, I didn’t know what it was for,’ lena whines, though the effect is somewhat spoiled by her inability to hide her smile)_. 

She’d just gotten settled looking through some forms when Jess’s voice buzzed through her intercom. _“Someone to see you, Ms. Luthor, shall I send them in?”_ Which was…odd, Jess always told her who was waiting for her, and besides, she hadn’t thought she had anything on her schedule for another hour. She frowned, but decided that if the person had been someone she wouldn’t want to see Jess would have sent them away already, and pressed the button to respond affirmatively.

A moment later, her door was opened, and Jess walked in, followed by…

Well, honestly, followed by the most handsome woman Lena had seen in a long time. She was very glad she’d disabled that camera now. There was no reason whatever her face looked like right now should be caught on video.

The woman stepped forward, long blonde hair swaying slightly, blue eyes bright with a smile that Lena found her gaze caught on the other part of until she realized she should probably stop staring at this stranger’s lips and get up to shake her hand. _Get yourself the fuck together, Lena_. 

Lena rushed to her feet, attempting to cover the awkwardness by raising an eyebrow _(her signature move, she has to say)_ and asking, rather imperiously, “And who are you, exactly?”

The woman smiled, reaching forward and shaking her hand with a strong grip that made Lena feel a little warm for reasons she did not care to analyze. “Kara Danvers, at your service,” she said, a grin slowly taking over her face, and _shit_ , the warmth was getting worse. “I’m going to be your dance partner.”

 _…shit_.

Lena could see Jess, still over by the door, hiding a shit-eating grin behind her hand. She glared over at her, and Kara _(kara danvers kara danvers kara danvers)_ , well, she just _laughed._

_…Shit._

“Well,” Lena said, schooling herself, “ _Kara Danvers_ , Lena Luthor, pleasure to meet you.” She squeezed the hand that still remained in hers, and delighted in the slight reddening of Kara’s cheeks _(and if she lowered her voice a bit to aid in that, there was no one to judge her for it but herself) (and jess, but jess had seen her do more embarrassing things, and this was her fault anyway)_.

Their hands remained connected for a moment longer, before they both seemed to simultaneously realize they should probably separate, and each stepped back, blushing _(lena could feel jess holding back her laughter)_. She brought her hand up to the back of her neck, and somehow found herself apologizing for having work to do _(which, honestly, is when she really knew she was fucked)_. “We could get lunch and talk later? I’m sorry, I have some work to do this morning.”

That’s when Jess took a step closer and cut in. “ _Actually_ , you don’t.” She smiled serenely and Lena had the brief thought of strangling her. “I didn’t schedule any real meetings for this morning, and none of that paperwork is urgent.”

“You put _fake_ meetings on my schedule?”

“Well, I had to keep this a surprise _somehow_ ,” Jess said, rather matter-of-factly, and Lena was going to kill her. She had to get out of there.

“Well, in that case,” she said, looking back over at a very amused-looking Kara. “Coffee?” _And maybe something stronger_.

“No drinking!” Jess called after them as they stepped into the elevator, Lena doing her best to ignore the heat radiating from Kara’s hand just behind her back. “It’s only 9 AM!”

Lena dropped her head into her hands. It was going to be a _long_ day.

\----------

They’d gone to start the process of getting their costumes ready for the first show this morning _(which involved lena discovering that she had definitely not realized what kind of costumes this would entail. she hasn’t worn something that revealing since…ever) (meanwhile kara got to wear long sleeves and pants) (she’d thanked lena for making that possible, but still. lena would prefer if that were possible for herself)_. 

Now they’re back in the practice room to continue working on their dance, when Kara breaks the comfortable silence with, “The wuhluhwuh are gonna freak out.” It’s unprompted, and Lena pauses for a moment, because her heart maybe stopped for a second at the implications of Kara’s statement, but also because-

“I’m sorry, the _what_?”

“Wuhluhwuh,” Kara repeats, as though saying it a second time makes it sound less ridiculous. “You know, women loving women? Ladies lovin ladies? Gals lovin pals?” She makes to go on, and while Lena would kind of like to see how long she could keep that going, she mostly just wants it to _stop_ , so she cuts in.

“Yes, I’m familiar with the term. I just don’t think I’ve ever heard someone try to pronounce it. And now I know why.”

There’s a weird look on Kara’s face, like she’s trying to be sly but she’s missing the mark and instead hitting confusedly enthusiastic. “So you have seen it, then?” she asks, and now Lena is the one that’s confused, because is Kara trying to determine whether she likes women right now? _Seriously_?

So she asks just that. “Kara, are you seriously trying to find out whether I like women right now? I thought that was fairly obvious, given the situation. Not to mention that it’s widely-known public information.”

Kara shrugs, making a poor attempt at looking chastened but really just looking smug, for some reason _(it’s kind of hot. really, most of kara’s expressions are)_. “I like to get my information straight from the source.” _(lena does not laugh when she says straight. she does not. she’s not a child) (okay, she disguises a laugh as a cough. kara definitely notices if her brief grin is anything to go by)_ “I studied journalism in college, you know.”

“Well then, Miss Danvers, Reporter Extraordinaire, I will tell you, right from the source herself, that I am a lesbian. Are you happy now?”

“Very,” Kara smirks, and then ruins the effect by leaning in and wiggling her eyebrows. Lena groans and shoves her away _(and there is certainly no part of her that’s jumping up and down inside because kara is definitely interested in women. that would be very unprofessional. lena doesn’t do unprofessional) (except maybe she does, just a little)_.

\----------

There’s a big meeting with all of the stars and pros a week before the first show, so everyone can get to know one another a little bit before they have to interact on live television. 

A tall brunette is the first person who walks up to her after Kara bounds off to say hello to her friends _(though not without a whispered assurance that she’ll be right across the room if she needs her and a brush of her knuckles at the small of her back that lena can still feel)_. The brunette introduces herself as Sam Arias with a strong handshake and eye contact that Lena appreciates. “I’m pretty sure my daughter is in love with you.”

Lena blinks, and she can feel her brow furrow. “Um, thanks?”

Sam laughs, warm and loud, drawing the attention of a few of the others in the room. “Sorry,” she says, “I don’t know why I led with that, I don’t think I’d know how to respond to that either.”

Lena smiles, gracefully demurring, and soon finds herself caught up in a conversation about Sam’s daughter, Ruby, discovering that Sam is a high-level business executive who also has a well-known Youtube channel where she talks about dealing with motherhood and being a woman in a male-dominated field, among other things _(lena’s pretty impressed, to be honest) (also somewhat to her surprise, which she feels slightly bad about)_. They’re joined after a few minutes by a pro who introduces herself as Eve and another star named Kelly who runs a popular psychology radio show.

They all talk comfortably for another few minutes before Lena excuses herself, figuring she ought to try to talk to a few more people, however much she might prefer to remain with people she already knows are unlikely to want to murder her _(hey, that’s not out of the question for her)_. Speaking of which, as her gaze flits around the room it catches on a man who is currently glaring at her. She pulls her lips into an awkward smile and waves slightly at him, before realizing how stupid she must look and quickly looking away. 

Her gaze alights on Kara and she feels an irrepressible grin tug across her face. Kara is gesturing wildly, her back to Lena, clearly invested in whatever she’s talking about. There are a few people gathered around her. A grinning woman with long dark hair leans against the wall a little closer than is necessary to a black-haired man with his hands steepled in the air in front of him and a serious look on his face. A shorter brunette stands beside them, dodging Kara’s hands once in a while when they get a bit too close. 

Lena takes a step forward, aiming to go over and say hello _(and it is absolutely not just for kara, no way, there are other people there too)_ when she feels a cool hand circle around her wrist and jolts to a stop. She turns and takes in the woman attached to it – most noticeable are her snake tattoos, clearly purposefully on display, followed closely by the almost predatory look on her face. “Can I help you?” she asks, with a tight smile and a raised eyebrow.

“Hello,” the woman says _(which is, like, not an acceptable response to can I help you)_ , rubbing her thumb over the bone in Lena’s wrist in a way that is walking the fine line between seductive and threatening, and Lena isn’t entirely sure which side it’s meant to land on. Lena pulls her hand away, bringing it behind her back to rub at her wrist with her other hand – definitely landed on threatening. She makes no response other than keeping her eyebrow raised, in the hopes that the woman will either say something else or go away.

Her hopes are not realized, but the woman’s expression does morph into something somewhat resembling delight at the same time as Lena feels a presence beside her that was not there a moment ago. A hand comes to rest at the small of her back _(she’d almost think it was possessive if she didn’t know better)_ at the same time as Kara says _(loudly)_ “Hey, Lena! Who’s your friend?”

“I don’t know,” Lena responds, “she hasn’t been kind enough to introduce herself yet.” She feels Kara tense slightly, struggling to hold in a laugh, and smiles proudly at the woman, who holds a hand forward, looking a bit as though it’s an invitation for Kara to kiss it, rather than shake it. Kara ignores that nuance _(or perhaps doesn’t even notice it)_ and takes her hand in a tight grip _(perhaps a bit tighter than it should be)_.

“Kara Danvers,” she says, “nice to meet you..” She trails off at the end, inflection lilting upwards in a question.

“Roulette,” the woman _(roulette)_ provides smarmily _(lena realizes that she’s only ever thought of men and her mother as smarmy. perhaps that’s a bit sexist of her. anyway, it fits here). Roulette_ , Lena mouths to herself. She rolls her eyes. _Fucking ridiculous_. She feels eyes on her. _Oh_.

“Lena Luthor,” she says. That may not have been what they were looking for, based on how Kara and Roulette both blink at her, but oh well.

“So,” Roulette says, “are you guys partners?” And something about the way she says it, looking at the two of them, doesn’t quite sit right with Lena. She feels like she’s back at one of her family’s fancy parties, trying to avoid talking to any more people than she has to so she doesn’t end up saying anything she shouldn’t, and she brings a practiced smile to her face.

“Yes. _Dance partners_.” Kara’s hand moves away from her back and she feels its loss acutely, unconsciously leaning into the blonde, who doesn’t move away again.

“Well,” Roulette says. “That’s _nice_ ,” and then she just turns and walks away, heading toward a pair that has clearly been watching the entire interaction from across the room.

Lena turns toward Kara, finding her brow furrowed in confusion as she watches her walk away. She looks back and meets Lena gaze, whispering, “What the _heck_?” 

Lena shrugs, wanting to forget about the interaction as soon as possible, and fast approaching that goal already _(what the heck? fucking adorable)_. She takes Kara’s hand in hers, and tugs her in the opposite direction of the way Roulette had gone. “Let’s go find someone else to talk to, yeah?”

The rest of their time is spent in better company, though Lena feels eyes on her that she doesn’t necessarily want a few times. She meets the people she saw Kara talking to earlier, Nia, Brainy _(which she kind of wants to question but decides not to)_ , and Lucy, discovering that they’re all fellow pros who have been on the show with Kara for a while _(which means they have lots of stories that leave kara denying everything half the time and nodding her head with a blush the rest of it. it’s wonderful)_. 

A few other stars drop by to say hello as well, including an _(attractive. very attractive)_ actress named Andrea and a _(gay. very gay)_ tennis player named Maggie, who is apparently partnered with Brainy. 

Kara doesn’t leave her side for the rest of the meeting time, and Lena catches her glancing toward Roulette a couple times, a strange look on her face. Both times she bumps her with a shoulder, prompting her to tune back in on the conversation with a slight redness in her cheeks. The time goes by quickly, and soon enough they’re back in the practice room after saying goodbye to everyone. 

Lena finds herself hoping that her _(mostly)_ successful social interaction will fuel some _(mostly)_ successful dancing _(though she remains skeptical)_. The only thing left to do is try and see; she looks over at Kara where she’s setting up the music. _Shouldn’t be too bad_.

\----------

Lena meets Dr. Alex Danvers on a tour of the show facilities.

Lena realizes _why_ Dr. Alex Danvers was glaring at her the entire time they were in the same room three days later, when she discovers that she’s Kara’s sister.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“We have the same last name,” Kara responds, sounding both exasperated and confused. 

And. That’s true. Lena one hundred percent absolutely did not forget Kara’s last name, no way, so obviously the only option is to move on and not give Kara any opportunity to question that. “Well at least now I know she hated me because she’s your sister and not because I’m a Luthor.” She forces a laugh in the awkward silence that follows that statement before Kara decides how to respond to that.

The sound seems to draw Kara from her thoughts, her face brightening and the little furrow between her eyebrows smoothing out. “Alex doesn’t hate you!” _She really needed a lot of time to think of that, huh_.

“Kara, she was glaring at me the entire time we were together.”

Lena thinks she can detect a faint flush on Kara’s face as she laughs and responds, “She was probably just jealous I get to spend so much time with the prettiest girl-” Lena raises an eyebrow, fighting hard against her own flush. “-prettiest woman here.” Kara’s attempt at being blasé about that statement really isn’t working very well, even as she adds, almost as an afterthought, “She met everyone else the other day too, and when she was over last night she told me she can’t decide whether Sam, Kelly, or Maggie is hottest.”

Lena chuckles, imagining _(scary)_ Dr. Danvers and Kara talking about girls, wrapped up in comfy clothes _(and if imaginary dr danvers is wearing a onesie that kara forced her into, lena has to make her less scary somehow. seriously, she thought lasers were going to come out of her eyes or something, with the way she was looking at her)_ , a movie on in the background. “You talk about girls with your sister?” Lena asks, tilting her head to the side as if in consideration, like she didn’t just envision an entire scene in her head with very little prompting. “That’s cute.”

“Girls and boys,” Kara says, attempting and failing to raise a mock-serious eyebrow _(she ends up raising both and just looking shocked. and very silly. lena hides a smile behind her hand, nodding her head)_. Kara breaks into a sheepish grin as she continues with, “Mostly girls though.” She pauses. “But of course we do! Didn’t you ever talk about girls with Lex?” 

And Lena appreciates her attempt to be casual about it, she really does, but she still feels her smile freeze on her face. She blinks a few times, swallowing sharply in an attempt to clear the sudden dryness from her throat. She hates how she gets when her family comes up, but it’s not really something that can be helped. Not everyone has a brother who decimated a city block in his attempts to kill a widely-beloved journalist _(it’s honestly a wonder clark kent is still alive, if paralyzed. lena had gone to help with the cleanup afterwards, and it had been…horrifying)_. 

She pulls a grin to her lips, scrubbing a hand over her face. “No, Lex was always more interested in how I was doing in school, what I was working on, whether I’d ruined any lives lately.” Kara winces. Lena continues because she’s arguably better at being an asshole than a scientist, which is _really_ saying something. “Besides, he was really more into guys. Clark Kent comes to mind.” Lena’s already disappointed in herself even as the words are coming out of her mouth. _Way to obliterate a conversation, idiot_. And Kara’s face is even more shocked than it should be, like, yes, what Lena said was indubitably shocking, but Kara looks like she just killed her puppy or something, her face white as a sheet. Lena reaches a hand towards her, concerned, before thinking better of it and pulling it away again. “Kara?”

“That stuff about he and Clark isn’t true, is it?” and her voice is _shaky (and clark is kind of a familiar way to refer to him, isn’t it?)_. “I know a couple places were speculating about something like that, but they were all the trashiest gossip rags. That can’t be…” she trails off, seemingly unwilling to finish that thought.

“Concerned about Superman’s sex life, are you?” Lena says, because apparently she just can’t fucking _stop_ herself.

Kara looks like she’s about to cry, and Lena knows herself, knows she isn’t a good person, but she still wishes she’d never said a word. “He tried to _kill Kal, Lena_.”

“Kal?” Lena echoes. “Clark?” She pauses, stomach tightening with a sickening realization that she hopes she’s wrong about. “Do you _know_ him?” Kara’s face is drawn, she’s biting her lip so hard it looks like she’s going to bite clean through, and Lena changes her question. “How _well_ do you know him?”

Kara’s hesitation seems to last three lifetimes before she sits up straight, bringing her shoulders back and looking Lena confidently in the eye as she says, “He’s my cousin.”

“ _Ohmigod_ ,” Lena chokes out, stomach dropping, and she’s on her feet and out of the room before she knows it. She thinks she hears a faint, almost tearful-sounding call of _Lena_ from behind her, but it must just be her imagination.

\----------

Needless to say, Dr. Danvers glares at her even more than she did the other day as Lena slinks her way past an hour later, head down, shoulders tight, just as she is leaving the practice room, where she was obviously talking to Kara.

Lena practically shuffles into the room, looking at the floor so she doesn’t have to see Kara, and she doesn’t _do that (she’s lena luthor, of course she doesn’t do that, she stares people in the eyes as she crucifies them, and once in a while cries about it afterwards in the privacy of her own home. if they really deserve it)_ , but she’s doing that now, apparently. She stops somewhere in the middle of the room and stands in silence for a few moments. “I’m sorry,” she says. “I shouldn’t have said those things. I’m sorry.”

There’s silence for a full two minutes _(lena knows. she starts counting after the first ten seconds or so)_. Then there’s the sound of Kara moving closer. “I’m not upset that you said those things, Lena,” she says, and beneath the raw quality of her voice there’s a tinge of…disappointment, maybe? “I’m upset that then you _left_.”

Lena looks up at how her voice breaks on that last word and _oh_. Kara looks like a _wreck_ , eyes red-rimmed, tear tracks on her cheeks, hair half tugged out of its former ponytail, and Lena kind of wishes Dr. Danvers had done more than just glare at her now. She deserves to be punched in the face, and she’s sure Dr. Danvers would have done it gladly.

“ _Kara_ , I…” she trails off, unsure what to say other than _I’m sorry_ again, and feeling that that’s not enough.

Kara starts speaking again before she finds something sufficient to say, and she’s almost grateful until she processes what she’s saying. “I thought…I thought you weren’t going to come back,” and there’s _old_ pain in her voice, too much for Lena to have caused all of it, and Lena’s not really sure how she fucked up so badly but she _knows_ she has to fix it.

She reaches forward and places her hands on Kara’s shoulders, almost changing her mind and pulling them back, if not for how Kara doesn’t shrink from them, but actually seems to appreciate the touch. “Of course I was coming back, Kara,” she says softly, blinking hard as she remembers that she almost ran off to her office, and who _knows_ when she would’ve gotten back if she’d done that. “ _Of course_ I came back. I’m here. And I’m sorry I left. I just, well,” Lena looks down, but looks back up after a moment; Kara deserves to be looked in the eyes. “I was surprised. And embarrassed. I tend to, well, try to avoid my feelings about my family by deflecting,” she says, and she can feel her sentence lilt up into a question at the end but ignores it, focusing on Kara’s eyes instead. They’re still filled with tears, but tearfall at least looks less imminent. “And I deflect by being an asshole,” she adds with a self-deprecating quirk of her lips. Then, softer, but perhaps more honestly for that, “I was afraid you would hate me.”

Kara bites her own lip, turning her head so as not to look Lena in the eyes. “I could never hate you, Lena,” she sighs. “I just – I don’t do well with people leaving.” She visibly pulls herself together after that, and Lena wonders how many times she’s had to do something like that before. “Dancing time?” she says, smile wide but eyes still too bright, and Lena hesitates.

“Are you sure?”

“Don’t think you’re gonna get out of it by pretending it’s for me, missy,” Kara says, and Lena bites back her worry, pulling a smile onto her own face as well.

Before they start dancing though, Lena quietly says, “I won’t leave, Kara.” Kara just nods.

And if, after they’re done for the day, she goes back to her office and works through an overload of files and a bottle of scotch until five the next morning, that’s her business. Kara doesn’t comment on it when she shows up to practice only a few hours later and falls asleep each time they take a break throughout the day.

\----------

They remain in a state of semi-awkwardness in the rest of the days leading up to the show. They get their jobs done, they talk a little, and they don’t do much else. Lena is still upset with herself. Kara seems to be pretending not to be upset with her.

That is, until Monday morning, when she abruptly and sharply barks out, “Stop!”

Lena stops the movement of her hands where she’s braiding her hair, arms remaining in the air as she keeps the sections separated. “Don’t like braids?” she tries, knowing it’s a longshot.

It doesn’t pan out. Kara sits down in front of her, mirroring her crossed legs. “You know what I mean, Lena,” she says, and it almost makes Lena feel ashamed. She ducks her head, feeling her hair pull slightly against her scalp. Kara doesn’t let her, gently tilting her chin back up to look her in the eyes. “Stop,” she says again, much more gently this time. “I don’t want things to be weird between us.”

She looks _so earnest_ , eyes wide and _blue_ , and Lena looks away and finishes braiding her hair to give herself a moment. It doesn’t last long enough, and by the time she’s done, she’s no readier to talk about this. But she bites her lip and drags her eyes back to Kara, who’s still looking at her the same way.

“My brother tried to kill your cousin,” Lena says, and Kara flinches. Perhaps she was a bit blunt, but she thinks the situation calls for it. 

But then Kara takes her hands, thumbs swiping over the backs of them, and says, “Yes, he did. But you’re not your brother, and I’m not my cousin,” like it’s the most important thing she’s ever said _(and maybe it is)_.

And who is Lena to dispute that? She feels a tear fall down her cheek, but she doesn’t wipe it away, instead launching herself at Kara and tucking her face into the crook of her neck as Kara hesitates for no more than a second before wrapping her arms around her.

“I’m sorry,” she says, muffled in Kara’s shoulder _(i’m sorry i’m sorry i’m sorry)_.

“It’s alright,” Kara whispers, rubbing a hand over her back. “It’s okay” _(it’s alright it’s okay we’re okay)_.

They stay like that for Lena doesn’t know how long, until there’s a comfortable silence and the tears have dried sticky on her face. She sits back and wipes at her cheeks with a groan, trying to push down the slight panic she feels at how _worried_ she was even though she’s known Kara for less than two weeks, and how _vulnerable_ she just allowed herself to be. 

Kara shakes out a leg that has evidently fallen asleep and Lena’s panic lessens. Lena smiles slightly, and then wider, unable to stop herself; she feels a little ridiculous, but in a good way, somehow. That’s new. “Kara,” she says and the blonde looks up at her, expectant. “Are the cameras in here on all the time?”

\----------

After Kara has made sure there is nobody on shift in the camera room _(because she’s friends with literally everyone and can just ask things like that without anyone being suspicious, apparently) (not that she’ll likely be able to do that after this)_ and Lena has successfully broken in and deleted the footage of their practice room from the past hour, they rush over to get into their costumes before their dress rehearsal time slot starts. They make it just in time, and it actually goes really well, something Lena chalks up to the excitement that comes with no longer being awkward around each other, and that Kara chalks up to “You’ve been practicing so much and doing really well, I knew it was gonna pay off, Lena!” at which point Lena just smiles and nods in agreement.

After they get their costumes back to the designers for final alterations _(which lena is still hoping magically result in some pants. or at least a real skirt)_ , they have a couple hours’ break before the final lead-in to the first show starts. Then Lena’s scheduled to get her makeup done and she knows Kara has a last quick meeting with the other pros before she has to get hers done too. She’s resolved to go get some work done before that _(she certainly won’t have any time tonight)_ , and just as she’s stepping away with a wave over her shoulder to Kara she feels a hand catch her other wrist and she’s pressed back against the wall. 

Her breath catches and she blinks rapidly. “Yes?” she says, wincing internally at the way her voice comes out. Kara is close in front of her, hand still wrapped around her wrist, the other one placed against the wall beside Lena’s head. _Is it hot in here?_ Lena blinks more slowly, unconsciously licking her lips. Kara closes her eyes for a few seconds. Interesting.

“Just wanted to make sure you’re ready for tonight before you run off,” she says, and her voice is slightly lower than usual too. _Very interesting_.

“ _Yep_!” Lena squeaks out, nearly slapping a hand over her mouth in horror so that she can’t say anything else _(she doesn’t do that, she has some control, but it’s very close)_. “Ready as I’ll ever be!”

Kara smiles at that, bright and full, and it’s so close that Lena kind of just wants to reach forward and grab it. Maybe with her lips. “Well in my professional opinion, you’re very ready. Ready as rain.”

Lena’s brow furrows in confusion, but Kara doesn’t notice, already walking away and leaving Lena missing her proximity. _Ready as rain?_ She mouths the words, then shakes her head and heads back in the direction she was originally going, pulling out her phone to get started on her emails after that _(admittedly appreciated)_ interruption. 

She finds herself looking back for a moment as she steps out the door. _Ready as rain_ , she thinks, and smiles to herself. She is ready. How could she not be, with Kara as a partner?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you liked! next chap - first show!!!  
> also, if anyone has suggestions for:  
> 1) songs (I still need to change a couple)  
> 2) how kara can lift two people at the same time without just awkwardly standing there (fairly sure neither of my main options is physically possible)  
> suggestions are much appreciated :)


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> show 1!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> disclaimer: I cannot dance. hopefully what I have said makes some sense anyway (and if you have any questions feel free to ask meee. my tumblr is @red-priestess-of-scully-romanov :) I have the exact seconds of the song I based the dance on and also a drawn-out plan that I can read approximately half of bc I didn't want anyone else to know what it was askljkjflfla
> 
> also almost forgot but here's the song they dance to:  
> https://open.spotify.com/track/4AewKenHXKBt643p473xCk?si=pbgCwcBcQii5wjIcjoGjDg

The show is, well, a _lot_ , to say the least. And it’s only just started. Lena already feels like she could go home and sleep for twelve hours, and she hasn’t even danced yet, besides the little intro segment _(and the last time she slept that long she was fourteen and lillian had made sure she was woken up at five am for the rest of the month. it hadn’t made her inclined to do it again)_. There are so many lights, and cameras, and _people_ , and yes, she _knew_ there would be going in, but it doesn’t make it better now, when she has to actually experience it.

Luckily, Kara is here _(and of course kara is here, but she still counts herself lucky)_ , and as soon as she’d seen Lena start to close off a bit she’d taken her aside, looked her in the eyes, and told her everything was going to be fine _(better than fine, even, lena, I don’t know why I said fine, it’s going to be great, amazing, you’re gonna love it, you’ll see-) (she hadn’t stopped until lena had put a hand up, laughing, to cover her mouth)_. That, along with her hand steady at the small of Lena’s back while they stand on the balcony, watching the other pairs dance below, has done a world of good in helping Lena come back to herself _(she had warily asked kara whether they should really be touching like this in front of all these cameras) (which had led to her further questioning herself whether they should be touching like this at all if she had to ask about it) (but kara had just laughed it off, telling her ‘don’t worry, we’re not gonna be the romance plot for this season; letting us be a pair at all is as far as they’ll be willing to go for a long while yet. i’m betting on andrea. maybe william if they wanna choose a guy’) (lena honestly hadn’t even been worried about that, hadn’t even realized that was something she could potentially be worried about, more about how there were So Many Cameras and So Many People watching in general, but she decided to make the conscious choice to allow her concerns to be allayed by that) (and maybe pressed herself a bit closer to kara’s side)_.

They’re already on the second dance down below _(the first had been a heavy-handed number with some sports guy named mike – she’s already forgotten what sport he plays – who lena is glad she hadn’t met the other day. the judges hadn’t liked it very much and lena had been a little selfishly happy about that until she realized they could dislike hers and kara’s even more)_. This one is much better than the first, Lena has to admit _(not that she really knows what to look for. she still hardly knows what a cha cha is)_ , even if Roulette _(and her partner, one of the pair who had been watching them from the side of the room the other day)_ , still makes her uncomfortable. The dress she is wearing shows her tattoos in flashes as she moves, and the sensual movements made to match the song really go with the snake theme she’s got going on.

It’s almost mesmerizing, to the point where Lena is startled when she feels Kara’s breath against her ear in a whisper. 

“A little much for the first week, hm?” She turns slightly toward Kara but the blonde is still looking out at the floor, as though she said nothing at all. Her lips quirk up slightly as she shoots her eyes sideways toward Lena for a second. “Still on camera, babe,” she says under her breath. “I know I said to ignore them, but it won’t do to be noticeably badmouthing the other contestants.”

Lena scoffs and knocks their shoulders together gently, mostly in an effort to draw attention away from the flush she felt come to her cheeks at the endearment. “I’d hardly call it badmouthing,” she responds. “Besides, didn’t you say everything should be ‘ _a little much_ ’ for the first week, to capture people’s attention?”

“Well, yeahhh,” Kara mumbles, “but still.” Then, louder, “Winn agrees with me, don’t you Winn?”

The man next to her turns around, tuning into their conversation. “What am I agreeing with?” Kara frowns at him and he breaks after only a few seconds. “Ugh, fine, put that away,” he says, holding a hand in front of his eyes. Kara grins and Lena rolls her eyes.

Kelly rolls hers too, albeit fondly, on the other side of the man. “I think you’re safe now, Winn.” 

He slowly removes the hand from his face, making a show of peeking through his fingers before fully doing so. “Hey,” he says then, evidently noticing her for the first time, “you’re Lena Luthor!”

She tenses slightly, feeling Kara’s hand on her back drop to her hip and pull her closer into her side in response. “Yup,” Kara says brightly. “I’m lucky, huh?” 

Lena forces a tight smile. It becomes more natural when Winn seems to have the same level of enthusiasm as Kara _(which she wasn’t even entirely sure was possible)_. “I would die to have her as my partner.” Seemingly remembering that his own partner is standing right next to him, he adds, sheepishly, “No offense, Kelly.”

She rolls her eyes again, waving a hand. “Don’t worry about it, Winn. Go ahead and nerd out.” _(lena thinks she likes kelly a lot)_.

Their conversation is briefly interrupted by the need to smile and wave at the cameras before the cut to commercial, as Roulette and her partner have evidently finished with their dance without her noticing, but after that Lena watches _(maybe slightly in shock)_ , as a torrent of words flow out of Winn’s mouth _(including a fair amount of questions that he doesn’t even give her time to properly answer)_ , warm and surprisingly comfortable from Kara’s proximity, smiling when she leans in and whispers “I maybe should’ve warned you Winn is a bit of a tech junkie.” _(he doesn’t even notice)._

That is all to say, of course, that by the time Kara pulls her away from the _(mostly one-sided)_ conversation with promises that they can talk again soon, she’s nearly forgotten that they’re going to have to dance soon. 

On live tv. 

_Ohmigod_.

She freezes, not realizing she has until she feels a tug on her arm and looks up to see Kara looking back at her with concern. She forces her legs to start moving again _(better that they stop working now than later, anyway)_ , and follows Kara’s slight change of direction into an alcove where they can talk somewhat privately.

“ _Hey,_ ” Kara says softly, “look at me.” Lena’s eyes lock on hers almost without her permission, and, looking into their concerned depths, she already feels slightly _(though only slightly)_ calmer. “Are you okay?”

“Yes,” Lena says quickly, then amends her answer. “Maybe. No?” 

Kara’s eyes soften even further, and she reaches forward as though to brush a strand of hair behind Lena’s ear before realizing that even if there was a strand there to brush away, she probably wouldn’t be supposed to touch it. She adapts, instead stopping with her palm resting against Lena’s cheek, thumb brushing over it once, twice. Lena feels herself lean into it, knows she probably shouldn’t, but can’t bring herself to stop, doesn’t want to, really.

“Don’t worry about all those people out there, okay? They don’t matter – pretend it’s just you and me.”

Lena feels her heart squeeze as Kara puts her finger on exactly what Lena was worried about without her saying a word, and, of course, finds herself responding with “But they do matter,” despite how she hates the slight whiny quality in her voice and her inability to simply take Kara at her word. “This is literally a competition meant to entertain all of those people.”

Kara sighs, and Lena looks down, feeling slightly ashamed at having disappointed her, but Kara’s hand shifts from her cheek to her chin, pressing softly but insistently to bring her gaze back upward. “ _Please,_ ” she says, and Lena feels it like a physical thing. “I know you can do this, and I know you’re going to. Actually, no, you’re not just going to _do_ it, you’re going to _kill_ it.”

She’s so serious, so _sincere_ , that Lena isn’t quite sure how she can respond. So she makes to look down again, stopped by the hand still under her chin, and smiles, though it feels more than halfway like a grimace. “Don’t say things like that, someone is bound to think I actually killed someone.”

There’s a pause, before Kara bursts out into much louder laughter than the joke warranted. She takes Lena’s hand and pulls her back out into the main area, walking faster than before in an effort to make up for the time they’ve lost _(time lena had wasted, but no, she shouldn’t think like that, kara would be upset if she knew)_. 

Lena vaguely recognizes the song she can hear in the background of things, though she doesn’t remember who is dancing to it, and soon can’t bring herself to wonder as it ends, she and Kara arranging themselves with Maggie and Brainy before the cut to commercial comes.

Soon enough, Maggie and Brainy, the last pair to go before them, are completing their dance, and Kara is squeezing the hand that still hasn’t left her grasp. “You’re going to do great. I promise.”

Lena tenses her jaw, before forcing a smile onto her face in an effort to convince herself that Kara is right. _It’s going to be fine. And then it’ll be done, and I can go home and have some wine and sleep for a day. Eventually._ She turns her smile toward Kara, who seems to find it encouraging, her own smile brightening even further, if that’s possible.

Someone appears beside them then, indicating that they should get into place for their dance, the video package starting on the screen above. Lena makes to slip across the floor and onto the stage, but Kara holds her back for a moment. “Don’t you wanna watch?” she asks with a pout, and _no_ , Lena really _doesn’t_ want to watch because it’s probably going to be embarrassing _(she is soon to be proven correct on that count)_ , but how can she say no to that? So she stays.

The video opens with her aiming a middle finger at the camera in the corner of her office before she disables it. She drops her head into her free hand as Kara bursts into laughter. “ _Shut up_ , I didn’t know what it was for.” Next she hears her own voice, introducing herself, which she’d almost forgotten she’d filmed _(it was a little awkward, when she knew that likely everyone watching would know who she was already, and more than likely have an opinion about her)_. It continues with some shots of them practicing their dance, followed by one from when Kara still wouldn’t tell her how their dance was going to start _(lena is looking almost right into the camera, which, like, how many cameras are there in that room? ‘come on, lena, it’s a surprise, I know you can wait for it.’ lena frowns. ‘why is it a surprise? what’s so dramatic?’ ‘you.’ lena’s mouth drops open. ‘kara danvers!’ the shot ends with kara’s loud laughter and lena’s offended glare)_. This is immediately followed by video from another room – the camera room. As soon as it comes onto the screen Lena groans, leaning into Kara, who has continued laughing ever since she started to at the beginning of the video. Thankfully what exactly is being deleted cannot be seen, but it is clear that Lena is deleting something, before she furtively looks out into the hallway to see Kara, still on guard _(and looking surprisingly alert, really)_ , and they run off down the hallway together.

She was absolutely right not to want to watch this.

She leans up to whisper in Kara’s ear _(which she probably doesn’t really need to do, but who’s going to stop her? not herself, that’s for sure. she clearly doesn’t have that kind of self control when it comes to kara)_ , “I should probably head over now.”

Kara tears her eyes away from the video to smile at her. “Yeah, you should. Good luck, even though I know you don’t need it.”

Lena rolls her eyes, though she can feel a smile on her face, which only widens as Kara brings their joined hands upward and places a kiss on the back of hers before releasing it. 

She trails lightly across the darkened stage and up the stairs to her mark, glancing back once to see Kara’s eyes still on her, and making it to the right spot just as she hears the video coming to a close above her. She gets into position, attempting to look casually out toward the rest of the floor and pretend that there’s no crowd watching beyond the edges of it.

Luckily, when the lights over her come on at the first beat of the song, remaining off everywhere else, they’re so bright that she can hardly see a thing _(though she does hear a wave of noise rise under the sound of the music)_ , blinking rapidly and looking over toward the spot she knows Kara is waiting when they immediately darken again.

The lights go up on Kara a few seconds later, as expected, and there’s an even louder burst of sound from the crowd _(which lena thinks is extremely reasonable)_. The lights go off once again, and Lena rushes over to join her before they return, her hands automatically going to hold her skirt up as she skips down the stairs and meeting only skin. She frowns. _I better get some pants at some point._

A smile _(if a slightly forced one)_ is back on her face by the time she’s in Kara’s arms, lights coming back on, focused at first on them and then expanding outward as the blonde mouths ‘ _You’ve got this_ ’ and the music skips back to the actual beginning of the song _(kara had insisted that starting with the end worked best for her dramatic opening) (once she finally told lena what said dramatic opening entailed, of course)_ , at which point she grips Kara’s thigh between her own as she dips her, sweeping her to one side and back up, before doing the same in the other direction.

She loses herself in the muscle memory of the movements they’ve practiced over and over now for the next bit, until she hears the lyrics that warn her of what’s coming next, Kara’s hand moving to grip hers tightly _(‘but not too tightly, lena, have to be able to let go in case something goes wrong – not that anything is going to go wrong!’ I just – ’ ‘okay, kara, I think I’ve got the idea’)_ , before she spins her around on the floor. 

She has a bit of a headrush by the time Kara is pulling her up, pressed close to her body, even before the grip switches to her left hand and she’s spun the same way in the opposite direction, so as they sweep into a series of spins _(upright ones this time, thankfully)_ she’s feeling a bit dazed. But she still smiles, meeting Kara’s eyes until they each turn outward, one hand attached in the middle and the other outstretched in the air, winking at her _(or trying to – she’s old enough to know it’s not something she really possesses the ability to do; it makes kara’s smile widen, either way)_ in the moment they face one another as they switch hands and turn to face the other side.

Then they’re spinning across the floor again, before repeating the same motions with their arms _(kara winks at her this time. lena has to admit she’s much better at it)_ , and they’re _so_ close to the end, Lena can _taste_ it.

Kara’s arms wrap around her from behind, sudden, yet careful, and Lena waits a few moments before spinning in her hold to face her, cheeks warming slightly _(though how she can feel it at this point is beyond her)_ as Kara’s hands trail to her hips, and then slowly up her sides until they cup her cheeks, thumbs brushing across them in a way that they didn’t when they were practicing.

They’re spinning again, but it’s slower now, more intimate, Kara’s eyes locked on hers as she subtly mouths along to the lyrics of the song. Lena had taken Kara’s advice to heart, and done her best to ignore all of the people watching, and it had worked, but now, _now_ she really feels like there’s no one else in the room. Maybe no one else in the whole world, even.

And then the last beat comes and Kara is guiding her quickly into a dip _(‘the start is dramatic enough; we don’t need much at the end this time’ ‘this isn’t dramatic?’ kara just laughs in response and lena is scared to ask her to elaborate)_ , and she lets her hand fall back, nearly reaching the floor. _We’re done._ Her eyes widen.

Suddenly she’s swept up into Kara’s arms, feet flying off of the floor, and they’re spinning around once again, though this time Lena doesn’t even have a reference for where the ground is, and she smacks weakly at Kara’s back to let her down as her head spins. “ _Kara_ , let me down please.”

Immediately, she’s on the ground again, Kara’s hands at her hips to keep her steady, even though Lena can _see_ how badly she wants to fidget with her nonexistent glasses _(she had heard about several glasses mishaps from kara’s friends. apparently they don’t mix well with dancing. at least for kara)_ or her hair, just from the sheepishness of the smile on her face. She smiles indulgently back at her, and neither of them move until a whistle comes from up in the balcony, and Lena looks up to see Winn pointing with both arms toward the table where the judges are sitting as laughter rings through the crowd.

She blushes, _oh god_ , tugging out of Kara’s arms and heading across the floor, Kara trailing her. 

Cat Grant sits in between the other two judges, a stern eyebrow raised, though if Lena’s not mistaken she thinks she can detect a hint of amusement, and maybe even _pride?_ It’s a bit odd, but she can’t really think too much of it now, too distracted by her fresh realization of how many people are watching them, and by the fact that they may be about to be told that their dance was completely awful _(though if lena’s honest with herself, it actually felt…pretty good)_.

Kara’s arm snakes around her waist, pulling her close and causing a flash of warmth to run through her body, just as Cat’s voice rings out, sharp and biting, but still with _something_ else in it that Lena can’t quite place. “ _Well_ , are you ready now? As _nice_ as it is to watch you two stare at each other, this is really neither the time nor the network for it.”

There’s a lone scream from the crowd, and then a burst of laughing hushes. Lena’s eyes widen, but she manages to hold off any other reaction. She looks toward Kara as subtly as she can – she has not managed quite so well, mouth opening and closing, cheeks bright red. Cat looks extremely proud of herself. The brunette beside her, Siobhan, Lena remembers, is rolling her eyes so hard Lena is worried they might get stuck, though she of course knows such a thing is not possible _(lillian had always said that would happen if she rolled her eyes too much. unsurprisingly, it had only made her roll her eyes more)_. The third judge, J’onn, on the other end of the table, is simply grinning. Lena decides she needs to take control of the situation.

“Yes, well,” she smiles a practiced, slightly self-deprecating smile, “I’m sorry, I was a bit dizzy.”

Cat hums, sounding rather unconvinced, which Lena thinks is pretty fair. It wasn’t a very convincing excuse. “Yes, I suppose you would be. _Anyway_ , I’m surprised at you, Lena Luthor. That was actually quite good.”

Lena feels her eyebrows rise; she turns to Kara, who is now smiling right at her. When it becomes clear that Cat is not planning on saying anything else at this time, she stutters out a “Thank you” _(well, doesn’t stutter, really – luthors don’t stutter, but internally, yes, she stutters)_. Cat nods imperiously in acknowledgement.

Siobhan clears her throat from beside her and Kara tenses slightly, accidentally _(lena thinks)_ pressing Lena slightly further into her side. “There was a _lot_ of spinning; I’m not really sure what that was about,” Siobhan says, a soft smirk on her face.

Kara grumbles under her breath. “ _So I guess spins are illegal now, huh_.” Lena presses closer to her, both in concern and in the hopes that it will prevent her from saying anything else like that loud enough to be heard _(though judging by the sharpening of siobhan’s smirk, she had heard the first statement just fine)_.

“Overall, though,” she concedes, “it was alright for a first dance. I would consider trying to vary things a bit more next time.” The “ _Kara_ ” she adds a beat afterwards feels much more pointed than it needs to be.

“Okay,” Kara says tightly, and Lena slides a hand over her back and bodily _(but subtly) (she hopes, anyway)_ turns her toward J’onn, sending a polite “thank you” and a nod Siobhan’s way at the same time.

J’onn seems amused by the entire situation, a wide smile on his face. Lena just wants to finally get this over with _(yes, it’s only been a few minutes; no, that does not mean anything)_. “Hello, Ms. Luthor,” he says. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Internally, Lena frowns in confusion. This is a bit of an odd time for that kind of statement _(not to mention the fact that not many people find it ‘nice’ to meet her)_. Shouldn’t he be judging her? Is that not his job? _(not that people need it to be their job to judge her. they do just fine without being told to do so)_.

Externally, of course, she smiles. “Nice to meet you too, sir, however odd the situation.”

He laughs, loudly. Lena glances at Kara to see whether this is normal and finds no explanation either way, Kara simply watching the interaction impassively. She supposes it can’t be that strange then. 

“Don’t call me sir, it makes me feel old. And the situation isn’t odd for me, though I suppose it would be for you.” Cat coughs pointedly beside him and he clears his throat, taking the hint. “Ah, yes. Judging. I agree with these two.” Here, he gestures slightly toward Cat and Siobhan – the former looking like she’d rather be anywhere else, the latter leaning back in her chair and examining her nails. “I thought the dance was quite good for the first week, though of course there is improvement to be made. And Kara,” he continues, leaning forward with an intent look in his eyes, “that was rather an interesting song choice for a cha cha. A bit slow, I would think – not that it seemed to cause much of a problem out there.”

Kara perks up at this, “Yes, I considered speeding it up a bit at first, since I was already shifting things around, but I decided that might be a bit too much change all together.” J’onn nods thoughtfully, as Cat’s face remains impassive and Siohban rolls her eyes once again _(seriously, what is her problem?)_. “I thought it would be a good first-week song for Lena here, though,” Kara adds, squeezing her to her side.

J’onn hums in agreement. “Yes, well, congratulations on finishing your first dance, you two. And you probably ought to stay down here with Snapper for your scores, looking at the time.”

Kara obligingly shuffles them slightly to the right, until she can put the arm not currently around Lena around a grumpy-looking man Lena is surprised to discover has been standing close-by the entire time – she hadn’t even noticed him until now. His face only darkens when the arm wraps around him, even as Kara grins.

“Long time no see, Snapper.”

“It’s Mr. Carr to you, Ponytail.” 

Lena raises an eyebrow, watching the back-and-forth with interest, as Kara swings her head from side to side, her loose hair swishing back and forth. “No ponytail here, Mr. Carr.”

Snapper simply huffs, evidently not deigning to give an answer to that, and Cat coughs pointedly from behind the judges’ table, her own eyebrow raised, causing Kara to sheepishly turn back that way. Lena smiles what she hopes is an apology.

“And the scores are,” Snapper says gruffly, and Lena’s eyes widen, before paddles are being raised by the judges: a six from Siobhan, followed by another six from J’onn, and a seven from Cat. There’s a sound of shock from the crowd when the last one is revealed; J’onn turns an amused look on Cat _(though that seems to be something of his general expression, from what lena has seen so far)_ , which she doesn’t choose to acknowledge.

And then they’re back to commercial, and Kara is tugging her across the stage and up the stairs to the balcony they were watching from before.

They’re greeted and congratulated by the other contestants when they reach the top, everyone who’s already danced all excitement _(except, notably, roulette, though that’s to be expected)_ , and they shuffle through a series of back-pats, high-fives, and hugs to reach Snapper’s fellow announcer, a blonde woman named Lyra.

She smiles brightly at them as the show comes back on and Lena once again finds herself facing a camera at Kara’s side. “Hello Kara, Lena, congratulations on completing your first dance! How did it feel? Lena, you must be dizzy, no?”

Lena forces a laugh. “Yeah, a bit, although it’s finally wearing off now. I’m not sure what made me dizzier – all those spins, or dancing with this one – I’m sure that would make anyone dizzy, even without the spinning.” 

Her cheeks are burning, and she has no idea what possessed her to say that, already regretting it, but Lyra, at least, looks positively delighted, and she can almost feel Kara’s grin beside her _(she’s sure it’s smug in a way that only she can pull off)_.

“Well that’s quite the endorsement, isn’t it, Kara? I’ll have to check in with you two again and see if it holds up next week.”

“Oh, it will,” Kara says, and despite the soft snickers she can hear from behind her, Lena’s whole body heats with the way Kara says it, the sensation centering on the hand at her hip.

Luckily, there’s no more time for them, as it’s time for the next dance, and they make their way over to the edge of the balcony once again to watch after thanking Lyra.

She can feel Kara buzzing beside her through the next two dances, held back by politeness _(and maybe the knowledge that they’ll be expected to be seen there when the dances are done)_ and as soon as they cut to commercial she’s being pulled back to the corner they had slipped into before. 

And then Kara is lifting her and spinning giddily in a circle, face pressing into her neck, and Lena almost lets herself get swept up in it, but she can feel how hard she’s blushing and is pretty sure her whole face might just burn off if she doesn’t put a stop to this, so, “Alright, I think I’ve had enough spinning for today, darling” _(she is not going to question why the last word came out of her mouth, nope, not the time)_. Kara puts her down, face flushed and eyes shifting around, her arms still loosely wrapped around Lena. “What was that about, by the way?” When Kara doesn’t seem keen to respond, she elaborates, “With Siobhan?”

Kara shifts uncomfortably, arms loosening their grip, but her back is to the wall and she has nowhere to go. “She doesn’t like me,” she grumbles.

Lena arches an eyebrow, unimpressed. “Yeah, I got that part. Any reason for that?”

A hand comes up to rub at the back of Kara’s neck and she looks down, but it’s not enough to hide how red her cheeks are. Lena’s mind works – it doesn’t take her long to find an explanation. “ _Oh_ , Kara, _no_. Tell me I’m wrong.”

Kara’s cheeks somehow manage to flush even darker. “I-,” she pauses, eyes flitting to Lena’s and immediately darting away again. “I do not think I can tell you that,” she rushes out in a high-pitched voice.

“ _You slept with a judge?_ ” Lena whisper shouts, remembering to modulate her volume at the last second.

“I- she- it was a long time ago! She wasn’t a judge at the time!”

Lena slumps against Kara with a groan, forehead resting against her shoulder, surprising both herself and Kara, as the blonde’s arms hesitantly come up to press lightly against her upper arms. “She clearly doesn’t think it was that long ago, if she hasn’t gotten over it,” she mumbles.

Kara laughs softly. “Well, maybe I’m just hard to get over,” she says, exaggeratedly cocky.

There’s a moment of silence, and then Lena just bursts into laughter, can’t stop herself, and then Kara is laughing too, and Lena can hardly breathe but she doesn’t even care, huddled in this corner away from everyone else, laughing in Kara’s arms.

Their laughter finally dies down after a few minutes. “It’ll be fine,” Kara says, voice still filled with amusement. “She’s a professional.” Lena doesn’t even need to say anything to that, lets her silence speak for itself. “Okay,” Kara corrects, “she is _mostly_ a professional.”

There’s comfortable silence for a few moments as they lean against the wall next to one another, shoulders bumping casually _(lena pretends it doesn’t send a spark of heat through her each time)_. “We should probably get back,” Lena sighs, “for the end.”

Kara hums a “yeah” and she sounds as strangely reluctant as Lena feels, though Lena thinks that’s probably mostly wishful thinking on her part. 

She hesitantly turns to leave and is shamefully grateful _(among other things that she’s not going to examine)_ when Kara steps in front of her to stop her, a hand gently pressing her shoulder back into the wall. 

“Wait a minute, though,” Kara says. “We got a little distracted,” here, she blushes, and Lena feels herself blushing in tandem, though she couldn’t say why if asked. “But I really did want to tell you how well you did. You were so good out there, Lena.” She’s looking _so_ earnest as she says it, blue eyes bright and swimming with it, and Lena’s blush only deepens. “I’m so glad to have you as my partner, and I want you to know that, and be proud of yourself.”

Lena looks down, face burning, though it’s hard to even have the space to with how close Kara’s standing. She composes herself after a moment and looks back up, but all she can find to say is a soft, “ _thank you_.”

Kara smiles, warm, and shifts her hand from Lena’s shoulder down to her hand, tangling their fingers together. “Alright, _now_ we can go back out there.” 

Lena lets herself be pulled along, nearly laughing aloud when she thinks about how she never would’ve expected to be here just a few weeks ago, and certainly never would’ve expected to be enjoying it. Every time Kara looks back at her, she meets her eyes with a smile that won’t leave her face.

There’s only one dance left when they get back, and the show finishes up quickly, with no elimination to make for the first week. 

Then they’re on to press, answering the same question over and over again _(how does it feel to be the first same-sex pair on the show?)_. And Lena gets it, she really does, she knows that this is important _(relatively, anyway)_ – that’s part of why she agreed to do this, after all – but she does wish there was a bit more variety.

She gets that when the last person they’re set to speak with, a woman with short pink hair that Kara seems to know, asks why she accepted the invitation to be on the show.

“Not that we’re not excited about it, whatever reason you chose to, I know I am, I’m a big fan of yours, but it is a bit surprising, I’m sure you understand, what with how you try to keep out of the spotlight as much as you can.”

Lena gets stuck about halfway through the torrent of words. “You’re a _fan_ of mine?”

Kara bumps her shoulder, smiling down at her. “What did I tell you?” At Lena’s raised eyebrow and lack of response, she continues, “I believe my exact words were ‘the wuhluhwuh are gonna freak out.’” The reporter stifles a laugh as Lena rolls her eyes to hide her own smile.

“I thought you meant because of us,” she says.

The reporter cuts in, “Is there something about you two we _should_ be freaking out about?”

Kara waves a hand at her. “Adaaa,” she drags the name out in mock consternation, “come on, don’t be like that.”

The reporter, Ada, evidently, laughs. “You know it’s my job to be like that, Kara.” 

Kara sighs, but she’s smiling. “ _Anyway_ , yes, Lena, I did mean because of us _being partners on the show_ ,” she says, with a pointed look at Ada, “but you have quite the cult following that’ll be pretty excited about this.”

She thinks she manages to hide her surprise fairly well when she responds with, “Oh, _really_ , and would you happen to be a part of this ‘ _cult following,_ ’ Miss Danvers?”

Kara grins cheekily at her. “Sure am now!” 

They get back to the actual question Ada had asked initially after that, Lena telling them both about how Jess had convinced her to be on the show _(leaving the publicity angle out, of course, though she’s sure many will easily assume it was a part of her decision)_ , and then they’re _finally_ done for the night, waving goodbye to Ada as Lena takes the lead this time in dragging them away.

“Eager to get out of here, huh?” Kara chuckles behind her. “Am I such bad company?”

Lena turns as they reach a quiet hallway, affronted by the very suggestion of that until she sees Kara’s face. “No, _of course_ not, I just feel like I could sleep for a week.”

Kara smiles softly at her. “Will a day do?”

Lena furrows her brow, as though thinking hard about the question. “Hmm, I suppose it’ll have to.”

“I guess this means you don’t wanna come hang out with us tonight? We usually have a thing Monday nights after the show.” She sounds almost disappointed as she says it, though it’s clear she’s trying to sound as casual as possible.

Lena finds herself considering the offer for a moment, even though she knows she really shouldn’t. But her brain and her need to be alone win out after a few moments. “Maybe next time? I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, yeah, of course! Don’t be sorry,” Kara rushes to assure her, hands waving in emphasis. Lena feels a warmth in her chest, watching her. “I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon, then. Four o’clock good?”

“That is decidedly _not_ a full day, Kara, but yes, I’ll see you at four.” And then she leans slightly upward _(she doesn’t have far to go, still in her dancing heels)_ and places a kiss on Kara’s cheek, before walking quickly away in an effort to pretend to herself that she didn’t just do that.

She turns back a little down the hall, on her way to shed her costume and get back into normal clothes before she heads home, to see Kara still standing in the exact same position, and smiles to herself.

The evening has been pretty successful, if she does say so herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next chapter - disney week :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> disney week!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> finallyyy. hopefully gonna speed up my pace on this now but we shall see maybe I just jinxed it

Lena arrives back at the studio at three thirty on Tuesday, after sleeping for twelve hours _(well, she fell asleep on her couch halfway through her didn’t-make-a-complete-fool-of-herself-on-live-tv celebratory glass of wine, and then woke up two hours later and stumbled into her bedroom before going back to sleep for another ten)_ and then spending a few catching up on some work _(that jess insisted she didn’t need to worry about – she really was wasted as an assistant, though lena didn’t know what she would do without her)._ She decides she might as well head over a bit early, since it’s already much later than usual, and she’s happy with what she’s gotten done _(an amazing occurrence, really)._ And maybe she misses Kara a little bit, already used to seeing her from early morning until late afternoon, though the thought brings a flush of shame to her cheeks and a hint of fear into her heart, so she pushes it to the side.

She finds herself stopping in the doorway of their practice room when she discovers that Kara is already there, music that Lena doesn’t recognize playing from her phone through a speaker, dancing by herself, a free yet thoughtful expression on her face as she works through some of the moves for their dance. Lena watches her move, fascinated, until Kara turns in her direction and abruptly comes to a halt. “How long have you been standing there?”

“Not too long,” Lena says softly, feeling as though if she speaks any louder it’ll break the moment somehow, despite the fact that it would seem to already be broken. “You looked good,” she adds. She thinks she should probably qualify that, make it sound less, well, less like what it could sound like, but she doesn’t want to.

And she’s glad she didn’t when Kara smiles, shy, and says “Thank you,” just as softly. For a few moments, they just look at one another, silent, though it’s probably the least awkward silence Lena has ever found herself in. Kara snaps out of it first. “So,” she says, “before we get started, would you like to see some of the reactions to last night?” There’s a twinkle in her eye that Lena will later learn to be wary of, but for now only finds endearing.

“Yeah, sure,” she acquiesces with a shrug _(to be honest, she’s actually kind of eager to see what people thought of last night. but she’s not prepared to advertise that)._

Kara eagerly skips over to get her phone from where she was using it as a speaker and pass it to Lena, which should maybe be another sign of what she’s in for. But Kara puts in her password right in front of Lena, oblivious to the incredulous look she gives her _(and of course her password is 1-2-3-4, but lena still doesn’t know what she did to deserve to see it) (maybe she was supposed to look away. shit) (she doesn’t think kara would overthink this so much. she should probably just forget about it) (although she’s not really sure she can forget such a simple password) (okayyy she’s done)_ , and Lena is a little too distracted by that to be wary. 

She determinedly blinks out of her spiral to see Kara looking at her expectantly, her phone held out for Lena to take, open to the ‘teamsupercorp’ hashtag on Twitter _(kara had come up with the name when they’d been asked to provide one for the show. the ‘corp’ obviously came from l-corp, but kara stubbornly refused to tell her where ‘super’ came from) (lena is okay with that. kara is pretty super. and god knows there are much worse names they could’ve gotten stuck with)._ Lena gingerly takes the offered phone, suddenly afraid of what she might see. But Lena doesn’t do afraid, certainly not for things like this, and Kara would’ve been more somber and less excited if the response was bad, right?

As though she can read her thoughts, Kara wraps her arms around Lena from behind, head coming to rest on Lena’s shoulder, and says, “Take a look. What are you afraid of?” So Lena takes a look, bolstered by Kara’s words in her ear and Kara’s warmth at her back.

Lena hopes Kara can’t feel the heat of the full-body blush that comes over her when she reads _that,_ but it’s unlikely with how close they’re standing _(little does she know, kara had started nervously laughing to herself when she’d first read it, glancing around despite the fact that nobody else was in the room with her)._

Kara laughs now too, though it doesn’t sound nervous. Lena feels the rumble of it against her back and it only serves to make her feel even warmer. She starts to work up the will to move out of Kara’s embrace _(she expects it to take a long time),_ when Kara’s hand flits forward and latches gently around her wrist.

“Keep looking,” Kara says, “there’s more.”

“I don’t know if I _want_ to see more, if that was the first one.”

“That’s a lie,” Kara says simply, and then tucks her face into Lena’s neck like it wasn’t already hard enough for her to breathe. Lena closes her eyes, swallows hard. 

“Okay, but only because it means there’s longer before I have to dance.” Kara grumbles, leaving Lena to make a valiant effort to ignore the lips against her neck, which she manages by scrolling further down the tag. There are several references to the article Ada had written, with screenshots from the part that mentioned the two of them _(kara squeezes her gently. ‘told you ada was great.’ ‘I said nothing to the contrary,’ lena points out, ignoring the flash of something in her gut. stupid. she’s being so stupid),_ as well as tweets expressing shock _(and, she has to admit, delight)_ at Lena’s appearance on the show.

_(‘told you you had fans.’ kara sounds far more smug than she should. ‘that was probably just you.’ ‘one – I would never disparage the show on twitter. two – if I was tweeting about you, you would know it was me.’ she says it in such a serious way and it’s such a weird..compliment? that lena doesn’t even know how to respond, opening and closing her mouth before deciding in favor of just going back to scrolling)_

She’s surprised to even find a tweet from Cat Grant.

“I didn’t even know I had a Twitter for her to tag,” Lena mumbles. “Is this weird?”

“Not knowing you have a Twitter? Yes. Cat tweeting about us? Not particularly. Social media is part of her job, just like it’s part of mine.” She pauses for a moment. “Also, we should totally make you an Instagram. If you don’t already have one, I guess.”

Lena hums noncommittally, scrolling past Cat’s tweet, or trying to, anyway, before the phone is suddenly and unceremoniously snatched out of her hand _(though not before she sees something that looks suspiciously similar to kara’s name)_ and Kara slips around in front of her, leaving her to hold back a shiver at the loss.

“I’ll have you know, I’m an Instagram expert,” Kara says, and Lena allows herself a brazen look up and down. 

Kara’s long, blonde curls are tied up in a messy ponytail, a few strands having slipped loose to frame her face, presumably when she was dancing earlier. She’s wearing a cut-off t-shirt that shows an enticing sliver of her toned stomach, and a loose pair of exercise shorts emblazoned with dogs, leaving what looks like miles of tan skin on display.

“I’ll bet,” she says, winking _(well. blinking purposefully)._ She’s gratified when Kara’s cheeks flush bright red and she stumbles over her words in her effort to move on to another topic. Lena doesn’t want to move on to another topic quite yet though _(and she’s also not entirely convinced kara even knows what words are coming out of her mouth right now)._ “Kara,” she says, placing a hand on the other woman’s arm and unable to stop a smile from coming to her face when she immediately stops rambling. “About what you said last night, the show romance they do – ”

“Showmance,” Kara cuts in, looking endeared, the color in her cheeks finally fading a bit. 

Lena clears her throat, struggling to maintain her own composure in a way that she absolutely shouldn’t be. “Right. _Showmance._ You’re sure that’s not something we have to worry about? I mean, with all these comments and everything.” She remembers another of the tweets she’d seen _(there had been several images of her and kara from right after their performance, when they’d been caught up in one another for far too long, and the caption had said ‘me too, ~~guys~~ gays’)_ and fights to keep her eyes on Kara’s.

Kara rolls her eyes and Lena frowns, offended despite herself. She looks away, lower lip tugging into her mouth. “I didn’t think it was _that_ unreasonable,” she mumbles, feeling a bit like a spoiled child.

“No!” Kara says. “No, I didn’t mean – it’s not unreasonable – ” She’s taken a few steps closer, and Lena feels the soft touch of her fingers on her chin as she tilts her head back to look at her. Lena makes herself take a step back, though she doesn’t really want to. “It’s just, the network isn’t that progressive. I mean, even pairing us together was a _lot_ coming from them, I never expected them to do that, so they’re definitely not going to push it any further than they already have.” Lena deflates, accepting that, filled with an odd mixture of disappointment and relief that she’s not prepared to interrogate at this point in time.

“Well, alright, if you say so I’m sure you know what you’re talking about. Dancing time? Unless you’re not ready?” She tacks on her addition at the end, thinking of the way Kara was already dancing when she got here. Maybe she wants a longer break.

But Kara just scoffs. “Excuse you, I’m always ready for dancing.” She pauses. “We _should_ talk about what the dance is going to be first though.” Lena nods, indicating her agreement with that simple logic. “So, first off, it’s Disney Week!” Kara exclaims. She clearly expects more of a reaction than she gets _(lena’s not sure why - she doesn’t think she gives off any sign of being a disney fan),_ frowning at Lena’s composure. “Are you not excited?”

“Well I can’t say I really care enough about Disney to be excited about that.” Kara looks far more horrified than Lena thinks that response deserves.

“What do you _mean_ you don’t care about Disney?” She sounds like she just saw Lena kick a puppy. Lena _feels_ like she just kicked a puppy. She decides a bit of backtracking is in order.

“Well, it’s not like I _hate_ it, I just haven’t seen enough to care. I didn’t watch any of those movies when I was a child, and I haven’t felt the need to seek them out as an adult.” Kara’s expression softens, and it’s almost worse. Lena feels the need to add something like _‘also Disney is a shitty company’_ but she thinks it’s likely to go over badly enough that it’s probably not worth it. Editing the video footage would be a lot harder to pull off a second time, and this is something she can avoid. “I have seen Cinderella though,” she adds.

Kara waves a hand through the air, a disdainful look on her face. “Iconic but overrated. Alright, that’s it, follow me.” She heads towards the door, scooping up her speaker and water bottle along the way, not even glancing back to see if Lena is following, confident that she is.

Lena clears her throat, feeling awkward still standing in the middle of the room as Kara walks out the door, and needing to get her attention.

She turns back, an inquisitive expression on her face that Lena doesn’t really understand considering the circumstances.

“Don’t we need to dance?” she asks, some of her incredulousness leaking through in her voice. 

Kara grins as though that’s a silly question. “Of course we do. But _first,_ you need to know the context.” Which, Lena can admit, makes some sense. But then Kara adds, “Context is almost as important as the fact that you’ve never seen The Lion King,” and Lena rolls her eyes, though she can feel a smile that she’s unable to hide tugging at her lips.

“Alright, do I at least get to know which film our song is from?”

“I think you deserve to wait until I start the movie to see, since you don’t actually know Disney movies, but if you _must_ know, it’s Hercules.” The way she flexes her arm and winks as she says it belies her reluctance to reveal the movie, but Lena finds her resistance leaking out of her nonetheless _(it’s not solely due to kara’s arms. but it is at least slightly due to kara’s arms. not that she would admit that. luckily no one is likely to ask her)._ She follows Kara out the door, only stiffening in surprise _(that she perhaps shouldn’t have at this point, though, to be fair, she hasn’t been in contact with kara for that long)_ for a moment when Kara easily slips an arm across her shoulders, tugging her into her side. “Are you ready?” she asks with a lopsided grin, twisting her neck to look down at Lena beside her.

“Probably not,” Lena answers honestly.

“Wow, that’s the spirit. Remind me not to pick anything actually difficult to subject you to.”

Lena gasps, half affronted and half amused. “Kara!” She tries to pull out from under Kara’s arm, but Kara grasps onto her hand just before she’s out of reach, unleashing a devastating pout that has Lena scurrying back into her hold to raucous laughter and a tighter grip at her hip from the blonde. She huffs, unimpressed. “You’re really not selling me on this Disney thing.”

\----------

Kara’s apartment is...both nothing like and exactly what she expected it to be. Large windows surround the area, sheer curtains pushed to the sides of them doing nothing to block the sunlight they let inside, lighting upon a soft and cozy space, full of contrasting patterns that somehow don’t clash with one another. Lena thinks of her own, much less colorful apartment, perfectly arranged by a well-known interior designer, and feels the strange urge to decorate.

She glances around more as Kara leads her inside once she realizes Lena has remained in place by the door, one arm wrapped across her stomach to clasp the other to her side _(she doesn’t know why she feels so nervous, standing here in kara’s apartment. there’s no logical reason for it. she hasn’t felt this type of nervous since she first snuck into another girl’s room one night in boarding school. this is...not the same. it can’t be. she’s an adult. and a professional)._ A darker curtain cuts across the space, serving to block off what Lena has to assume is Kara’s bedroom, based on what she can see. There’s a large empty space before it, noticeably clear in contrast to the rest of the room - perhaps for dancing. At the edge of it, near a pair of windows, stand two easels, one with a blank canvas and the other with one partially completed, a few others leaning up against the windows behind them.

She’s literally pulled out of her contemplation when she feels herself scooped up, gasping as her feet suddenly and unexpectedly leave the floor. She’s tossed onto the couch a moment later _(finding herself very glad this is kara’s couch and not her own, as that would have hurt. maybe her redecoration idea does have some merit),_ closely followed by Kara leaning over the back of it, a cheeky grin on her face, blonde curls falling down around her face, almost brushing up against Lena. “Sorry about that. I’m glad to see you appreciating my apartment, but we _did_ come here for a reason.”

Lena scoffs weakly, trying to hold back the blush she feels burning in her cheeks. “And you couldn’t just, I don’t know, say something?”

Kara showily rolls her eyes. “That’s no fun.” And then she _vaults_ over the back of the couch, somehow managing not to land on top of Lena, though Lena has no idea how _(as evidenced by the way her eyes squeeze shut and she winces in advance)._ “Okay, I’m thinking Hercules, Lion King, Beauty and the Beast. Oooh, or Mulan. Or Little Mermaid?”

She seems set to continue listing movies indefinitely, so Lena cuts her off. “Let’s start with those first three. Or two. And we can see how we feel from there.”

_“Three,”_ Kara says, popping up and placing such a quick kiss on her forehead as she moves past that Lena almost thinks she imagined it, though that doesn’t stop her cheeks from heating to what must be an unhealthy temperature. Kara’s crouching in front of her TV, rifling through the cabinet underneath it.

“Do you have _all_ of those movies here?”

Kara stands, nearly knocking her head on the top of the cabinet before she closes it, but moving out of the way at the last second. “Yeah, of course. Never know when you’re gonna need a Disney movie.”

Lena rolls her eyes, but there’s a fond smile playing across her lips. It’s cute _(well, it’s cute pending how many movies she’s about to be forced to watch. and whether any of them are actually any good)._ “I’ll take your word on that, I guess. Hercules first?”

There follows some speculation by Kara that maybe they should watch Hercules last, so it’s most fresh in their minds for the dance, but Lena convinces her it’s best to start with it, so they can stop at any time without worrying about not having seen it.

She turns out to be right _(as usual),_ because halfway through the third movie, they’re both getting a _bit_ distracted.

“We should take some photos!”

Lena groans as the shoulder she’s been leaning against shifts with Kara’s enthusiastic assertion. “I’m not taking photos in your pajamas, Kara.” Kara had insisted they change before starting the movies, for the _‘best movie-watching experience, Lena, come on,’_ despite the fact that they’d both been in exercise clothes already, which Lena thinks are around the same comfort level as pajamas _(though perhaps not as kara’s pajamas. but that’s less because they’re pajamas and more because they’re kara’s. something she resolutely shoved from her mind as soon as she thought it)._

“I’ve gotta show that I’m doing my job, Lena, you don’t want me to get in trouble, do you?” Lena can hear the pout in her voice before she even looks at her. “Plus, you need some for the Insta we’re making you.”

“I still haven’t agreed to that,” Lena grumbles, but she’s already shifting to get in a better photo position, and Kara beams at her _(lena doesn’t even remember what movie is playing in the background anymore. she’s fairly sure kara’s forgotten there’s one playing at all)._

“You will,” Kara says quickly, and before Lena can protest, continues with, “James has been teaching me how to take good photos,” holding her phone out in front of them and hugging Lena close to her side, a bright smile on her face. Her first attempt is a failure, as she accidentally presses the button that turns off the screen instead of the one she’s actually meant to press, but she gets a few after that.

Lena’s not entirely sure who James is, but Kara’s photos don’t give her much faith in his photography skills. Or maybe just his teaching skills. She raises an eyebrow at Kara, phone open to a particularly blurry photo in which half of their heads are cut off _(lena’s not even sure how that’s possible - they could see the photos while they were being taken)._ Kara blushes, ducking her head. “He’s not really into selfies,” she offers in explanation, and Lena nods seriously, though she can feel a smirk tugging at the corner of her lips.

“How about I give it a try?” 

Kara nods vigorously, and Lena tucks back into her side, holding the phone out in front of them. Her arm is a little shorter than Kara’s, but there are only two of them here, so it’s not like it really matters _(and it’s unlikely she can do worse than the photos she’s just seen)._ She snaps a few, nearly dropping the phone on the floor when Kara surprises her with lips at her temple, though she manages to catch that on camera too, before bringing it back in so they can look at the photos. 

Kara gasps, taking the phone out of her hands to scroll through them _(and lena’s pretty proud of her photos, but she doesn’t think they really deserve that kind of reaction)._ “Lena, these are so good! How are they so good?”

Lena shrugs. “I like taking photos.”

“Oh. Take lots of selfies, _Ms. Luthor?”_ And okay, _why_ is she looking at her like that - Lena feels the ridiculous urge to fan at her cheeks, which she tamps down strongly, looking away, around the apartment, at anything else. Oh, the movie. Right.

“Well, I don’t really take photos of myself.” _(she’s absolutely not thinking about how she would take photos of herself for kara. absolutely not. that would be inappropriate)._

“Oh, _really?”_ Lena stifles a groan, looking warily back at Kara despite knowing that she shouldn’t. “Photograph me like one of your French girls,” Kara says, leaning back against the arm of the couch.

Lena feels heat rush to her cheeks even as she scoffs. “That really doesn’t work as well.”

“Well,” Kara drawls, drawing out the word, a cheeky grin on her face that does not bode well for Lena, “gotta leave the painting for myself.” She gestures across the room towards the art setup Lena had spotted earlier with a wink, and Lena, well, Lena is fairly sure she’s about to die. She claps her hands to her cheeks, not sure whether she’s trying to soothe them or hide them, and folds over to lean against her knees. 

It’s a good couple of minutes before she can bring herself to sit back up again, a couple of minutes narrated by Kara’s whining of _‘nooo, Lena, come back, I’m sorry,’_ and _‘the movie is almost over, you have to watch the ending,’_ interspersed with her laughter as she rubs a hand across Lena’s back in an attempt to coax her back up again.

She’s finally coerced, letting Kara tug her back into her side once more to watch the end of the movie, but her cheeks don’t quite lose their tint the rest of the time she’s there, only reaching their normal shade when she gets back to her own apartment and flops onto her bed for a few moments of questioning what the _fuck_ she thinks she’s doing _(she doesn’t reach a satisfactory conclusion, but somehow, she finds she doesn’t really care to) (of course that’s when kara texts her the photos they took earlier and her cheeks flush right back to red)._

\----------

“Alright, you got out of dancing yesterday, but you won’t be getting away with that today,” Kara says, putting some music on for them to stretch out to and starting to jump around _(which is distinctly not a stretch, but lena’s pretty sure she has a specific amount of energy she has to use each day which she didn’t yesterday, so she’ll allow it. not that she’s the one who knows how dancing works anyway)._

“I specifically remember you being the reason we didn’t dance yesterday, but okay,” she responds, stretching down towards her feet and then back up into the air.

“I may have made the call, but you were the one who hadn’t seen any Disney movies. I can’t _believe_ you let me spend so much time with you without even _warning_ me,” she teases, and Lena rolls her eyes, not deigning to reward that with a response. “Anyway, like I said yesterday, we’ll be dancing to a song from Hercules, and that song is…” she trails off. “Drumroll please, come on, Lena,” and Lena sighs, though she can’t help but smile at her ridiculousness, obligingly tapping out a drumroll rhythm against her thighs.

“You do realize you already told me the song when it came on during the film yesterday?”

“Well, we have to let everyone else know too,” Kara says, spinning around, arms spread wide, to indicate the cameras around the room, before leaning down to press play where she’s attached her phone to her speaker. The beginning of ‘I Won’t Say (I’m in Love)’ fills the room, and Kara darts forward to sweep her into a hold, spinning them around the studio, Lena doing her best not to flail about like a complete idiot. Kara slows them after a few moments, though they’re still spinning gently, mostly in one spot in the center of the room. “So we’re doing a foxtrot this week,” Kara says, softer, “it doesn’t start like that, actually, but I thought it was a good way to get us moving a bit.”

Lena feels the urge to get closer, and she doesn’t fight it, leaning her head on Kara’s shoulder, revelling in the way her arms tighten around her so they’re less in a real hold and more just rotating in a hug. “How does it start for real then?”

“Gonna have some kind of fountain thing, taking some inspiration from the movie. No water though, don’t worry, we’ll save that for some other time.”

“I wasn’t worried until you said that, but okay.” Kara laughs and it jostles Lena slightly. She doesn’t mind. “Show me what I have to do?”

Kara gives her an unreadable look at that, though there’s something about it that makes her draw her lower lip into her mouth and bite down, or maybe there’s just something about Kara. “Yeah,” Kara says after a few moments, “yeah, but we’ll leave the beginning for later, let’s just start with the basics so you know where everything is coming from.” Lena nods. That makes sense. “The foxtrot is very...flowy.”

Lena chokes out a laugh. “Is that a technical term?”

“Absolutely.” Kara grins. “I’m a professional, am I not?”

And then she takes it upon herself to teach Lena what ‘flowy’ means by having her close her eyes while she guides her movements. By the time she’s spent ten minutes with Kara’s hands on her hips, gently steering her this way and that, she’s fairly sure she would do anything she asked. She’s also fairly sure that means they should take a break from this, lest she embarrass herself.

She slides her hands down Kara’s arms to her hands, removing them from her hips, turning to face her and watching with some small measure of amusement as Kara’s eyes climb up to meet hers, her cheeks slightly pink. “Just need to get some water,” she says.

“Oh,” Kara says, and Lena could swear her eyes drop to her lips for a moment. “Oh, yeah, of course, water is good, you should definitely drink some.” Lena arches an eyebrow, but leaves it at that, heading towards the bottle she’s left over on the side of the room. “Oh, and I have something for you!” Kara adds, ducking her head, hand at the back of her neck. Lena’s not really sure what Kara could have for her that would induce that kind of awkwardness, but she finds herself curious.

“Oh?”

“Yeah,” Kara says, moving over to the wall to rummage through her bag, “usually we all go to  
Disney for Disney week, but they’re not having us go this year, for some reason. We could go by ourselves anyway, I think a couple of the others are, but that didn’t really seem like your kind of thing.” She’s right, that really doesn’t seem like Lena’s kind of thing, but Lena isn’t really sure why this is relevant until Kara makes a noise of success and pulls some kind of hat out of her bag. With ears _(she’s not sure how it took her so long to find it, when it’s about the size of the bag, but she’s not going to ask. the ears are more concerning, at the moment)._

“Kara, no.”

Kara frowns up at her, a mixture of disappointment and confusion on her face. “What do you mean, no? Do you not like Winnie the Pooh or something? I felt like this was a pretty inoffensive choice.” Lena looks closer, and discovers that the hat is, in fact, a Winnie the Pooh hat. With Mickey Mouse ears _(sure, she’s not in the disney loop, but she knows some things, okay? everyone knows who mickey mouse is)._

“I’ll look ridiculous,” she protests, but it’s halfhearted. She can already feel herself giving in to the imploring look on Kara’s face. After all, it’s not like she’s here to _not_ look ridiculous _(she’d suspect kara was thinking something similar and simply holding off on saying it because she knew it wouldn’t help her case, if not for the fact that kara is always endearingly complimentary and argues against her any time lena tries to say something to that effect)._ She sighs. “Fine,” she says, reaching out to take the hat from Kara’s hands and place it on her head, having to take her hair out of its ponytail to do so. “Happy?” she asks when she’s done, only to find Kara beaming with her own Tigger ears on her head, complete with pink nose in the front and all. She probably should have expected that.

Kara hums, making a show of examining her look, hand on her chin and thumb tapping distractingly at her lower lip. “Maybe I should’ve gotten you Eeyore instead.” It takes a moment to register, but then Lena huffs, mouth dropping open, and she crosses her arms, turning her back on Kara’s raucous laughter _(though, if she’s honest, she’s holding back laughter of her own)._ She feels Kara come up behind her, hearing her laughter calming, but there’s still an obvious smile in her voice when she says, “Okay, I’m sorry. Oscar the Grouch?”

And Lena, well, Lena doesn’t actually know who that is, but she _does_ at least know what grouch means, and she spins around, frowning, all set to playfully punch Kara in the shoulder, but Kara just catches her wrist in her hand before she makes contact. She tries again, with her other arm, but Kara catches that one too, a smug look on her face that makes Lena feel like all the air is being sucked out of the room. Only when she looks up and makes eye contact with the Tigger hat does she feel like she can breathe again, shaking herself internally. “Should we get back to dancing?” Her voice is definitely a little higher than usual, but she doesn’t think Kara notices, caught up as she is in fully processing the position they’re in, quickly releasing Lena’s arms as her cheeks redden.

“Yeah,” she squeaks, “yeah, you’re right, we should. You ready?”

Lena nods tightly, eyebrows raised high in a way she hopes looks more enthusiastic than apprehensive, and closes her eyes in advance as she feels Kara place her hands back on her hips. She can feel that it’s going to be a _long_ week. 

\----------

Despite her worries, it seems like it’s been almost no time at all before it’s Monday - show day - once again.

She’s dutifully watched a Disney movie each night, under Kara’s orders _(and if she just puts them on in the background while she does some paperwork that she’s been missing out on, it’s not like kara needs to know. she can pick up enough of the plots to survive kara’s morning interrogations about how she liked them, and there’s no way she could exceed kara’s level of enthusiasm anyway),_ and they’ve been practicing their dance all week _(after the first day was spent on movie-watching, anyway),_ to the point that Lena actually feels like she could describe what a foxtrot is to somebody else. Sort of. To somebody who knows nothing about dancing and couldn’t call her out on her description.

They stop by wardrobe to get into their costumes before heading over to the main stage for their dress rehearsal. Their dress is inspired by what the characters wear in the movie, which means Lena has a floor-length light purple dress on. There’s a long slit up one side to make it easier for her to move, but it’s still one step closer to pants from last time, so she considers it a win. Kara, on the other hand, is wearing some sort of brown tunic, the bottom of which is split into strips that look like they’re going to flap around as she moves, though they’ve been assured that they will not. She’s also wearing a headband _(that looks more like a sweatband, to lena. and not even a sweatband that would fulfill its purpose of blocking sweat. a bad sweatband)_ that she’d insisted on for ‘getting into character,’ to Lena’s great _(yet inarticulable, beyond ‘you look ridiculous’)_ dismay.

Rehearsal goes well, the steps coming fairly easily to Lena without her having to think about them - it helps that there’s something of a correlation between the dance and the lyrics _(kara had told her making up stories for her dances to go along with the songs was kind of her ‘thing’)._

She’s brought some work with her today, to do during the short midday break she’ll have between finishing up prep and having to get all dressed and made up for the show, and Kara appears delightedly surprised when she discovers that Lena has no plans to leave as they drop their costumes back at wardrobe. Her delight is replaced with a sheepish look as she apparently remembers and informs Lena that she already had plans to hang out with Alex during that time.

“You could come with me though!” she adds brightly.

That...does not sound like a good idea. Lena has no doubts that while Kara seems to have forgiven her for what she’d done last week, Alex Danvers has not. She doesn’t need to put herself in an awkward situation and make things even worse by butting in on their sister time.

“That’s okay, I brought some work to do, I’ll just stay here. You have fun with Alex though.”

Kara frowns gently but acquiesces, with a reminder to eat something and drink some water _(‘if you think you’ve had enough water, drink a little more’),_ and it doesn’t keep her from stopping by to ‘check in’ no less than five times in the two hours they have _(not even counting when she shows up at the end of their break so they can go get ready together)._

After that, it feels like no time before they’re once again minutes away from starting the show, despite the fact that Lena hasn’t spent this long putting on makeup in her entire life _(not even during her punk phase in college)._ They’re up second this time around, following Leslie and Ben’s dance to a song from Beauty and the Beast _(he’s beauty and she’s the beast, which everyone gets a kick out of)(particularly siobhan, it would seem, as she gives them a score two points higher than the other two judges),_ so after the intro where everyone comes out onto the floor, she and Kara stay down there to wait instead of heading up to watch from above.

Soon enough, their video package starts playing, after Leslie and Ben get their scores and go up to talk to Lyra. Lena doesn’t wait with Kara to watch it, darting off with a last squeeze of her hand to arrange herself on the fountain prop in preparation, but she can still hear it. It’s mostly shots of her and Kara in rehearsal this week _(no incriminating evidence of them deleting footage from the camera room, which was thankfully an exploit they hadn’t had to repeat. yet)._ She laughs softly as she hears Kara tease her over the Pooh hat, and she can hear the audience laughing along as well. She feels strangely happy as it comes to an end to realize that there was nothing from their impromptu Tuesday movie night included _(obviously kara’s apartment isn’t filled with cameras the way the studio is, but she had taken some video as ‘proof’ that they were doing their jobs. she must not have sent it in for some reason)(and if lena hopes that that reason is that she also wanted it to be just for them, well, that’s her business, and she’s not even going to think about it, and certainly not going to share it with anyone else)._

She breathes in deep, taking the opportunity to center herself while nobody can really see her face yet just as the music starts up. She brings a hand to her forehead in a dramatic imitation of a sigh at her cue a few seconds in, before twisting to get her feet off of the fountain prop and onto the ground and standing up as the next line of the song finishes. Her right arm extends through the air, a tiny smile alighting on her lips as she thinks of how many times Kara had stressed the importance of her arms throughout the week. It’s joined by her left, so she can bring both of them down while stepping quickly down the stairs as the song speeds up, just in time to be pulled into Kara’s hold at the bottom.

They step to the beat of the music, Lena trying not to focus too hard and just keep her steps in line with Kara’s, following her lead as she takes them in slow circles and moves them across the floor, letting her head tip back when Kara tilts her. 

When the denials start up in the lyrics of the song, she pushes away, left wrist left in Kara’s grip, attaching them, but leaving her free to extend the rest of her body in the other direction, before spinning back into her. A few seconds later, she does the same with arms flipped, extending over to the left, before meeting back with Kara once again.

They’re back in hold, spinning again, their movements slightly faster this time, her body pressed in close against Kara’s in a way she’s distantly glad she doesn’t have the spare brainpower to focus on.

The next strong beat comes and she and Kara step sharply away from one another, Kara to the left and Lena to the right, arms out at their sides in a sort of shrug-like motion, catching gazes as they do so. They each spin a couple of times to the right, arms remaining in the same position. Kara’s spins are slightly larger in scale, so that she can come up and capture Lena’s arms from behind a few seconds later, before twisting them around and turning her so that they’re facing one another, releasing them only briefly so they can get back into a regular hold.

They go back to their basic steps, Lena feeling herself sinking into the music a bit more - there’s not too much of the song left to go, and she hasn’t made any mistakes _(that are noticeable to her, anyway)_ so far. She spins away from Kara again at her next cue, only to spin right into her as they’d planned, faces close, hands attaching themselves to her shoulders as Kara’s latch onto her waist and provide a warm weight in the few seconds before they separate again.

They meet one last time, spinning together, steps calculated, covering more of the floor on the opposite end from where they started. They slow with the music as the song nears its end, leaning in to one another even more, before Lena breaks away again, more gently this time, to flow across the floor and back up the steps to the fountain, Kara following a few paces behind to end up in her own spot at the bottom of the stairs. 

Lena makes it to the prop right on time, lying back down in much the same position as she had started, albeit on the opposite side, delicately ensuring her movements aren’t too jagged. She grins as the song comes to an end, eyes falling closed in a mixture of relief and delight.

Just a moment later, she feels an arm loop under her knees and another slide under her back, and then she’s being lifted into the air, eyes opening back up to see Kara’s beaming face smiling down at her, still adorable even with the stupid headband she has on as part of her Hercules costume.

“Is this going to be a thing, darling?” she asks, sweeping a glance down at the way she’s been swept off the floor once again.

Kara’s cheeks go bright red and she sputters for a moment, but she doesn’t put Lena down. “I didn’t get to lift you during our _Hercules_ dance. Had to do it now.”

“Making sure all the girls are impressed? I have to say, I don’t think you have anything to worry about.”

Kara huffs, muttering something under her breath that sounds suspiciously like “Not _all_ the girls,” which Lena really doesn’t care to analyze at the moment, and gently lowers her feet to the ground so they can head over to the judges, who are looking a bit impatient. They should probably speed up their post-dance celebrations. If they’re here for more of them, that is.

Snapper grumbles out something that doesn’t sound a whole lot like any real words before nodding to Cat to start the judging. Kara wraps an arm around Lena’s waist as they wait for her to speak - they wait for several seconds that seem like hours as Cat steeples her fingers under her chin, seemingly thinking something over. 

When she finally settles on something, Lena almost wishes they could go back to waiting _(almost. not really. kara, on the other hand…)._

“I’m disappointed.”

Kara’s arm tightens around her, fingertips digging into her hip. Lena keeps her face impassive, responding with a simple nod of acknowledgement even as she lifts her hand to her side to interlace her fingers over top of Kara’s. 

The same can’t be said for Kara, who is clenching her jaw hard enough for it to be clearly seen.

“I thought the foxtrot aspects of the dance were somewhat overshadowed by the whole,” she waves her hand through the air, as though trying to swat an annoying fly, “story.” There’s a hint of disdain in her voice, but it feels like she’s toned it down from where it was originally supposed to be. Lena glances up at Kara out of the corner of her eye. _Interesting._ “And Lena, not too bad for not having danced much before, but your frame and your arms were a bit stiff, so that’s something you could work on.”

“Thank you,” Lena says, receiving a nod from Cat, and she presses into Kara’s side in an effort to make her respond less rudely. She manages a tight, unconvincing smile and Lena holds in a sigh.

J’onn cuts in. “I agree with Cat. Well,” he backtracks, “I don’t know that I would go so far as to say I’m disappointed. But I agree with her comments. Both of those things are fixable though, so I’m sure you will take them into consideration for next week,” he concludes with a warm smile, also nodding in acknowledgement of Lena’s thanks.

Siobhan is the last judge remaining, and the look on her face doesn’t bode particularly well _(or maybe that’s just lena knowing what she knows now about siobhan and kara. either way, she’s not expecting anything good)._

“Yeah, Lena, you need to loosen up.” Lena blinks. _Can she say that?_ The room feels quieter than it was a few moments ago, but maybe she’s imagining it.

“Yeah, Kara’s been trying to help me with that.” She probably should not have said that _(sure felt good though)(she’s pretty sure cat is hiding a smile by taking a drink of water)(j’onn is not hiding his)(she still shouldn’t have said that)._ “But I’ll definitely keep that in mind if I’m still here for next week, thank you.” Siobhan looks like she swallowed something disgusting and Kara looks a little less angry and a lot more confused, so Lena considers it a win.

“Alright, scores,” Snapper barks out from beside them _(lena had forgotten he was even there. it’s not a pleasant reminder)._

“Five.”

“Five.”

“Five.”

Kara winces almost imperceptibly with each one, and Lena drags her away as soon as she’s able, ignoring the camera that follows them on their way towards the stairs. 

They make it through their interview with Lyra _(barely),_ Lena doing most of the talking, with Kara providing a couple of one-word answers and a fake smile that hurts to look at, and when they’re free to go, Lena tugs Kara over to the hidden alcove where Kara had brought her last week.

“What’s gotten into you?” She winces internally after she says it - there’s no reason for her to snap at Kara like that, even if she’s concerned, and Kara was being pretty rude out there _(she can’t imagine that’s a part of her job. this may be a reality show, but it’s not that kind of reality show. probably. as far as lena knows)._

“I’m sorry!” The words burst out of Kara like she’s been holding them in for a while. Lena’s brow furrows in confusion and a short laugh makes its way out of her throat.

“For what? You don’t have any reason to be sorry to me. I mean, you were kind of a jerk out there, but that was to everyone else, not to me. I’m just a little concerned.” _(lena can’t actually remember the last time she told someone she was concerned about them. felt concerned, yes. told them? no. the words taste foreign on her tongue)._

With no more warning, Kara slumps into her shoulder, arms wrapping loosely around her waist and face turning into her neck. Lena stumbles back a step, unprepared, but then holds firm, leaning into her in turn despite the precarious position that puts her in if Kara decides to make another sudden movement. They stay like that for a few minutes, until Kara is ready to speak _(speak meaning mumble into lena’s neck in a way that she can barely hear, but it gets the job done)._

“I’m sorry about the dance.” Lena waits for her to elaborate. “Their comments were all about my choreography, I should’ve made a better dance for you, you were amazing.” She leans back a little to meet Lena’s gaze at that, eyes wet and so _blue_ and Lena can barely draw a breath for a moment. “And I’m sorry for being a jerk out there, I...don’t really take criticism well.”

“Well, first of all, not _all_ of the comments were about your choreography. They said I was too stiff too.”

“That was just because they’re mostly supposed to be judging you, so they had to make something up,” Kara grumbles, “you were gorgeous.”

Heat rushes to Lena’s cheeks, and she hopes all the time she had to spend getting her makeup done means Kara won’t be able to see it. “I highly doubt that’s how it works, darling.” _(god, when did she start calling her that?)._ Kara makes a disgruntled noise but Lena continues before they can get caught up in her refuting that. “And I may not be an expert, but I thought the dance you made was wonderful, and I’m honored to have been able to dance it with you. So don’t feel so bad, okay?”

“I don’t want us to get kicked off because _I_ messed up.”

“Oh?” Lena arches an eyebrow, teasing. “So we’re only allowed to get kicked off if I mess up?”

“Noo,” Kara says, a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips now. “We’re not allowed to get kicked off at all, obviously.” She pauses. “But yeah, if we do, it has to be because of you.”

Lena scoffs, but she can hear how endeared she sounds _(she sounds like that a lot around kara. it’s only slightly horrifying)._ “Alright, I think you’re feeling better, time to head back out there. Can’t have anyone speculating because we were missing too long.”

Kara keeps her arms wrapped around her for a moment longer, and Lena waits, unwilling to pull away. “Speculating about what?”

Lena eyes her suspiciously. “I think you know what.” The way she splutters and releases Lena to push up the glasses she’s not wearing indicates that she does, in fact, know what.

They walk back out to the balcony above the floor, pressing in next to Kelly and Winn, who are yet to dance. Mike and M’gann are down on the floor, dancing to a song from Dumbo _(lena thinks seeing mike having to loaf around in an elephant costume brings kara back a bit closer to her regular, cheery self)._

The rest of the night passes, Kara’s warmth welcome at her side, plenty to watch down below, the feeling in her chest overwhelmingly _(though not entirely)_ of relief that they’ve already finished their dance for the night. 

Inevitably, the time comes for the first elimination _(the fact that it’s the first of the season something the hosts make repeated note of),_ and they all make their way down to the floor, standing in pairs. She feels Kara’s hand lace its way into hers and looks up at her with a grateful smile. Kara winks, but beneath that she still looks nervous.

That holds, until their names are called after what feels like forever, though there are still a few other pairs waiting to hear their fates. She turns back to Kara, who is blinking rapidly as though trying to process, a bright grin spreading across her face to mirror the one Lena can already feel on her own. She presses a quick kiss to the side of her head, so fast the audience could almost miss it _(though she’s sure they won’t),_ and pulls Kara away off the stage.

In the end, the bottom two pairs end up being Mike and M’gann, and Mxyzptlk and Mercy, with the latter being the ones to go _(which lena is convinced is at least partly because nobody knows how to say his name. and also because he seems very creepy. but mostly the first part - there are other creepy people here. unfortunately)._

They make it through the press pretty easily - luckily, Kara has moved beyond her earlier one word answers, chatting happily with the journalists, one arm comfortably wrapped around Lena, who speaks a bit more reservedly _(habits are hard to break. she’s never been very comfortable around journalists)._

They speak to Ada briefly as they make the rounds, answering a couple of questions for her and letting her snap a quick photo of the two of them _(though they both insist on inspecting it. lena’s glad she isn’t the only one),_ and then they’re free to go.

Kara gets caught up with a few of her friends as they make their way out of the crowd, and Lena leaves her with a gentle brush of her shoulder and a smile, not quite desperate to get out of her costume and get out of here, but not looking to stick around any longer than she has to.

She’s making her way down the hall to their studio where she’d left her stuff earlier when she hears slapping footfalls on the floor behind her. She turns to see Kara jogging up to her. “Couldn’t let you leave without saying goodbye.” She’s just slightly out of breath, but not nearly as much as Lena would have been if she’d just run across the building, and her cheeks are flushed a captivating shade of pink.

“You could have,” Lena points out, “but thank you.”

“No, thank _you.”_ Lena tilts her head. “For earlier. I know I said it before, but I really am sorry about, well, everything.”

“And I know _I_ said _this_ before, but you don’t have anything to be sorry for, Kara, okay?” She waits for Kara’s nod. “And, if you think you need to make it up to me, you can just plan an even better dance for next week.”

Kara tugs her lower lip into her mouth, cheeks flushing and head ducking as she brings a hand up to rub at the back of her neck. “I _do_ have some thoughts.”

“I’m glad. And intrigued. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

“Yeah, see you tomorrow,” Kara breathes out, and then she wraps her arms around Lena in a tight hug, thankfully not removing her feet from the ground this time. Lena sinks into it when it becomes clear she’s not letting go after a few seconds, and they stand there, swaying a little, for what must be minutes, before they pull apart.

“Bye,” Lena says softly.

“Bye,” Kara echoes. Lena feels her eyes on her until she turns the corner and steps out into the fresh evening air.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> catch me having lena call kara darling bc I want someone to call me darling aksdjlfasjdfl
> 
> if any of you would like to contribute to the tweets since that's apparently something I'm doing now you are welcome to put things in the comments. or just like. tell me how twitter works


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ~latin night~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and we are back! with more gay idiocy and parentheses than ever
> 
> song for this chapter (and the inspiration for the fic title!): https://open.spotify.com/track/5wOlrILWF42yYT5iqeUeEl?si=p-PCT7NBQpWvRNDPDYNtZw

“So how gay are you feeling on a scale of one to ten? My bet is an eleven.”

“God, why do I still answer your phone calls?” Lena slumps onto the table in front of her, her mug of tea rattling precariously until she reaches out a hand to stop it from spilling in her face. She really doesn’t need that. Jack is enough for her to handle on his own.

“Because you love me? Speaking of which, I cannot _believe_ you didn’t tell your best friend you were going on Dancing with the Stars. I should be privy to this kind of information, Lena.”

“You’re not my best friend,” Lena grumbles into the phone.

“Excuse me, do you have any other friends?”

“..Jess is my friend.”

“Jess is your assistant. She may _also_ be your friend, but I’m pretty sure assistanthood precludes her from best friend status. The highest they can get is fuckbuddy, and I’d like to think you would have told me about _that._ ”

She’s going to kill him someday. She really is.

He takes her few seconds of silence _(as he usually does)_ as an opportunity to further annoy her. “Anyway, as an apology for not telling me, your _best friend,_ that you were going to be on Dancing with the Stars, and leaving me to find out like _everyone else,_ you can promise to tell me how good this _Kara Danvers_ is in bed.” She can _hear_ him wiggling his eyebrows.

“ _God,_ Jack, _no._ One, no. Two, what makes you think I would even know that? Three, no!”

He responds with laughter in his voice, no doubt choosing to ignore half of her response. “I know _you._ And I know your type.”

“Kara is not my type! And you do _not_ know what it is. You thought _you_ were my type.”

“ _You_ thought I was your type.”

“I did not,” she grumbles.

Jack tuts. “Well we can’t all be as repressed as you, love.”

“I’m not repressed.” After a few moments of silence, she reluctantly adds, “anymore.”

“That’s the spirit!” Lena rolls her eyes, but there’s a fond twist to her lips.

“ _Goodbye,_ Jack,” she says pointedly. “I have to get some work done before I head in to meet Kara.” She hangs up before he has time to respond _(she’s allowed to do that after years of friendship. and annoyance)_ and downs the rest of her tea before pulling a heavy pile of papers across the table towards her.

\----------

“Hello!” Kara greets her as soon as she steps into the doorway this time, looking up from where she’s sitting against the wall, evidently scrolling through her phone, with a bright smile on her face.

Lena walks slowly into the room, her own expression mirroring the blonde’s without any will of her own, and slides down the wall herself to sink to the floor beside Kara. The side of her thigh presses against Kara’s when she reaches the ground, and she thinks to move away, but then she thinks that Kara will find it strange - why should she care if their legs are touching, when they’ve been dancing together for weeks now - so she remains in place. And then Kara’s hand falls down against it, and moving is no longer an option _(neither is breathing, it seems, but that’s another matter)._

“Wanna see my favorite tweet from last night?” Lena nods enthusiastically, still trying to get enough air to speak, and then looks down at the phone proffered before her. The tweet on the screen shows a photo of a dog, a puppy, most likely, judging by its size. It’s captioned with ‘Charlie and I know who we’re voting for! #dwts #teamsupercorp’. Her eyes soften - of _course_ this is Kara’s favorite tweet. 

She looks up, only to find the other woman’s adoring gaze fixed on the photo on the screen. “Very cute,” she says _(and she’s not entirely sure whether she’s talking about the dog at this point)._

Bright blue eyes bounce up to meet her own, and Kara grins at her. “I know, right?” 

Lena finds herself blushing and nodding without entirely knowing why. She blinks rapidly, turning away for a second to get herself under control. She nudges her shoulder against Kara’s in an attempt at distraction. “So, what’s the deal this week?”

“I’m sorry, Miss CEO, I don’t understand business speak, could you try that question again?”

Lena sighs, making an effort not to let Kara know she’s the least bit amused. “God, I got enough stupid jokes from Jack this morning. Are you trying to push me above my quota?”

“Jack?” Kara asks, sounding more serious than a few moments ago _(and far more serious than any discussion of jack deserves, in lena’s expert opinion)._

“Yes?”

“Who is Jack?” To Lena’s surprise, Kara’s nose wrinkles slightly as she says the name this time. She raises her eyebrows. “You’ve never mentioned them before.” She sounds almost petulant. Lena’s eyebrows raise yet further. 

_Interesting._ “Haven’t I?” she questions airily. “Jack’s an old friend of mine,” she trails off. “My best friend, really,” she adds, hiding a grin as she recalls their phone conversation and what she’d said regarding that particular title earlier.

“Oh,” Kara says, but it doesn’t sound like she’s had anything clarified, and Lena can feel the tension in her body where she’s still pressed up against her.

_Very interesting._ “I spoke on the phone with him this morning,” she continues, with a slight emphasis on the _‘him,’_ unable to completely suppress her smile when Kara immediately slackens against her. “He was very annoying, as usual.”

“Why are you friends if he’s so annoying?”

Lena throws her a look. “Your friends never annoy you?” Kara tilts her head, conceding. “It’s an endearing kind of annoying,” Lena continues. “Brotherly,” she adds, almost wryly until she chokes on the word halfway through. Kara squeezes her thigh, where her hand still rests, in comfort. It helps, though Lena almost wishes it didn’t _(it’s surely not in the way she intended)._ “Don’t tell him I said that, by the way. He knows, but he doesn’t need any more encouragement.”

“I’ll keep that in mind in case I ever meet him.”

“Oh, I’m sure you will at some point,” Lena says, standing up and stretching her arms up above her head as high as they can go. She groans happily at the strain before dropping back fully onto her feet. “Based on his interrogation this morning, he’ll never let me live it down if you don’t.”

“Oh?” Kara says as Lena turns back to her, but it’s only halfway to questioning, and her eyes are averted, cheeks pink. 

Lena’s glad for two reasons: 1) getting any further into discussion of her conversation with Jack this morning would probably be dangerous, considering its content, and 2) she’s pretty sure Kara was just checking out her ass. 

She smiles. It’s been an enlightening afternoon so far.

“So,” she says. “Dancing?”

“Dancing!” Kara repeats with clear relief, jumping to her feet. “We’re doing a samba to ‘Dance Like This,’” she says. “Ready?”

“Considering I have no idea what a samba is, I _would_ say no, but I’m probably ready as I’ll ever be.”

Kara frowns at her. “I’m going to have to find something to discourage you from saying things like that.”

Lena blinks, mind coming to a screeching halt for a moment as she processes that statement. She blinks again. “That wasn’t even that bad,” she shoots back, but her voice comes out whiny enough to make her wish a hole would open up in the floor and swallow her whole, and her hands come to her cheeks in an effort to both cool and hide her blush, despite the illogic of that choice.

Kara’s eyebrows rise, her eyes widening slightly, and Lena prays to a god she doesn’t believe in that she won’t say a word _(and maybe she’ll have a bout of sudden, limited amnesia)._

“Okay, I’m sorry,” she says, cheeks flaming hot once again, undoing the effort she went to in order to cool them. “I’ll try to be more… _cheery._ ”

Kara’s lips twist and she looks like she’s going to object, but she seems to accept that as the best she’s going to get for the time being, and simply nods. 

“Okay, so,” she claps her hands together, “samba…”

\----------

The week feels like it’s going by even faster than the last one, if that’s possible, and Lena can’t decide if that’s a good or a bad thing. 

Sure, she hadn’t exactly been looking forward to being on this show, had laughed at the thought of it even, and it feels unnatural to be spending so much time away from work for something that, in the scheme of things, is fairly trivial, even if she knows she’s left things in good hands there.

But at the same time, she doesn’t want her time with Kara to go by too fast. 

She’s only known her for a few weeks, but she’s sure Kara already knows her better than some people she’s known for years _(and maybe that’s more of a comment on her social life than anything else, but it still feels like it means something)._ And what she doesn’t already know, Lena finds herself wanting to share with her. Lena is..not someone who enjoys sharing things about herself. Hates it, really. But with Kara, she _wants_ to tell her things, she _wants_ her to _know._

She wants to know her. 

And maybe it’s a product of the close quarters, the way Kara has her hands all over her half the time, or even the contract she signed that said she had to share at least a bit about herself, but Lena doesn’t think that’s all of it. She thinks maybe it’s just Kara.

All she knows is this: she’s fucked.

\----------

Lena had thought she’d been getting more used to things after the last two shows; she’d certainly been more prepared for the crowds and the cameras last week than the previous week.

But as it turns out, nothing could have prepared her for Latin Week. 

Everything is so _loud._ The costumes, the dancing, the crowd _(‘it’s a fan favorite theme,’ kara whispers to her a couple dances into the night, leaning in a little closer than necessary. ‘yeah,’ lena mumbles, ‘i got that’)._

And all of the dances are, well, really good _(not that lena exactly knows what constitutes a good dance..but they all look good)._

She says something to this effect, and Kara squeezes the arm she has wrapped around her a little bit tighter _(it would be uncomfortable if it was anyone else, and she’s pretty sure that’s the goal, actually, but, well, it’s kara. she could squeeze her to death and lena would probably welcome it)._

“Not as good as you,” Kara says, which is objectively untrue in some cases _(andrea had moved in ways that looked borderline impossible during her dance to some shakira song that lena had never heard before),_ but as much as Lena is willing to let Kara squeeze her to death, now is not really the ideal time for it _(according to about 98.5% of her brain. the other 1.5% says it’s the perfect time, because she wouldn’t have to dance, but she’s ignoring that part),_ so she doesn’t argue.

They’re up last tonight, unfortunately, which gives her plenty of time to not only watch the other dances and think about how much better they are than she will be, but also worry that she’ll somehow forget everything as soon as she steps out onto the floor. 

Kara must sense how she’s feeling, feel the tension in her shoulders maybe, because she releases her from her hold in order to free her hand and draw it straight down her spine to land at the small of her back, where her thumb takes to rubbing slowly back and forth. Lena shivers involuntarily.

“Are you alright?” Kara asks, warm breath trailing across the back of her neck. Lena shivers again, and Kara’s fingers splay out at her back as though to hold her steady.

Lena doesn’t feel very steady. 

She holds as still as she can. “Just a little nervous,” she says. “I’ll be fine.”

Kara smiles beatifically at her, and Lena realizes she’s stopped hearing the deafening noise that had been bothering her so much earlier. Miraculously, even this realization doesn’t bring the sound crashing back in. “Yeah you will,” Kara says, leaning in to place a firm kiss on her temple.

Lena’s eyes flutter closed at the too-brief pressure, and she feels all the tension flood out of her body. _Well,_ she thinks, a little deliriously, _that’s a neat trick._

Apparently she thinks it a little too emphatically, because a snort encroaches on her newfound quiet, and she turns to see Winn holding a hand over his mouth, Kelly beside him, her eyes dancing with amusement. She turns back to Kara, cheeks warming, to find the blonde biting back a smile _(though it does nothing to hide the look in her eyes that lena would call smug if she was feeling less generous)._

She makes a conscious decision to keep the calm that _trick_ has just given her, and just presses back into Kara’s side to watch the rest of the dances before they have to go down and get ready for their own, smiling contently when Kara’s hand finds its spot back at her waist once again, thumb continuing the movement it had started at her back.

She enjoys watching the rest of the dances more than she had the previous ones, now that she’s less worried about her own, even letting out a whoop when Nia and Raymond finish up their Argentine Tango to ‘Oye Como Va,’ startling Kara so much she almost accidentally jumps over the balcony, before pressing her laughter into Lena’s hair.

They head down the stairs during the third-to-last dance in order to be in place for the cut to commercial, and afterwards, Kara tugs her slightly off to the side, before framing her face with her hands, probably in an effort to ensure Lena can’t look away. Lena’s eyes widen. 

“You’re going to do great, okay? We’re going to look really hot out there, and everyone’s going to love it. You’re ready for this, and I wouldn’t say that if it wasn’t true.”

Ignoring the second statement for her own peace of mind, Lena raises an eyebrow. “Yes, you would.”

Kara takes a moment to think about it, blue eyes roaming away from Lena’s and giving her a moment to breathe. “Okay, maybe I would. _But_ I wouldn’t say it so many times.” Lena hums her doubt, but otherwise keeps quiet. Kara realizes that her hands are still on Lena’s cheeks a few moments later, and hastily pulls them away, reaching up with one to adjust glasses that aren’t there _(it may be her most endearing habit. jury’s still out - lena likes to be thorough in her research)._

They’re interrupted by the sound of their names being called, a hand waving them over towards the stage. 

The video package starts playing, showcasing moments from their week, and there’s loud laughter as the first thing it shows is Kara sneaking up behind Lena and startling her so badly she almost punches her in the face, saved only by her inhumanly fast reflexes, as she simultaneously ducks out of the way and catches Lena’s wrist in her hand.

It’s funnier now, when Lena can see exactly how ridiculous Kara had looked, sneaking up on her, dramatically tip-toeing infinitesimally slowly across the studio _(though lena will begrudgingly admit it was a little funny then, as well)._ Kara squeezes her hand before releasing it to go meet Vazquez, who she’ll start the dance with, and Lena takes that as her cue to cross the stage herself and go meet Mercy _(needless to say, she hadn’t been particularly enthused at the prospect of dancing with her, but it’s only for a few seconds, and there are only so many options when almost everyone else is still paired up with a star)._

The first clip is followed by a few shots of them practicing their dance throughout the week, Kara’s encouragement such that even through the medium of the screen it manages to make Lena feel a bit warmer _(a real feat, with what she’s wearing)._

One shows her almost falling, but Kara scoops her up into a perfect bridal carry _(she’s still not sure how she had managed that, but she’s sure glad it had happened),_ and another shows Kara demonstrating the almost-split she had asked if Lena would be comfortable including as their ending _(comfortable is perhaps not the best word for it, but lena had agreed to give it a go, and it’s been working out so far..hopefully it works out in a couple of minutes as well)._

The package ends with Kara looking straight into the camera as she says, “They’re gonna want samba this,” Lena freezing in her steps behind her, before tipping her head back towards the ceiling with a long-suffering sigh. There’s scattered laughter around the floor as the music starts.

She dances the few steps over to the middle of the stage to meet Kara, feeling as though both she and Mercy are far more excited than they should be to be able to get away from one another _(though in her case it’s only partially about getting away from mercy, and arguably more about being back in kara’s arms)._

They step down the stairs together, hand in hand, and turn their heads sharply towards one another at the bottom, smiles meeting for a pointed moment before they’re off across the floor, heading to the right, in the direction of the judges’ table, Kara’s arms feeling possessive wrapped around her back, even as she loosens one and then the other so they can extend their arms through the air, first to one side, and then turning to the other.

They do that once more, continuing to move across the floor, towards the middle now, before they separate. Lena turns in a circle, arms up with her hands tucked behind her head _(careful not to mess up her hair too much - the stylist had made a very convincing threat),_ trying to move her hips enticingly and make it seem like this isn’t perhaps the most embarrassing thing she’s ever done in public _(okay, that’s not entirely true; she’s done worse, that jack can attest to, but it wasn’t quite as public as live national television public)._ It doesn’t help that she knows Kara’s watching intently while waiting for her own turn, not quite managing to make her gaze look like less than what it is, based on their practices.

It _does_ help when Lena gets to stop most of her own movement in favor of clapping showily to the beat of the music and Kara’s twisting hips, smiling widely so it looks like the way she’s looking at her is just a part of the dance and not also because Lena couldn’t look away if she wanted to.

It’s only a few seconds of that, though, before she has to take a more active role again, both her and Kara stepping beside one another to perform a series of synchronized movements _(which, thankfully, look much more complicated than they really are),_ and then Kara is molding herself to Lena’s back _(and lena is very grateful for their practice, because she’s pretty sure that if this was the first time she’d felt it she would’ve passed out right in front of everyone),_ holding one arm up above her and the other at her waist, to spin them around, bodies moving together, first one way, for a few turns, and then the other.

The rest of the dance feels like a breeze after that, as they work their way back across the floor so that they can finish around the middle of it, not-so-coincidentally in front of the judges’ table. Just before the last beat, Kara fastens her hands under Lena’s arms, and then as it comes, she drops her into the almost-split _(well, kara calls it that. lena...would not be so generous as to use the word ‘almost’)_ they’ve been practicing.

They hold the position for a few seconds, just to finish up, before Kara pulls her back up, careful not to be too rough, and turns her around to wrap her in a hug, smile even brighter than the lights all around them as she pulls back. “Good job,” she whispers, pressing a blink-and-you-miss-it kiss to the side of Lena’s forehead before she walks them the few steps over to Snapper, one arm still wrapped around her waist, much as it was during their dance.

Snapper gives each of them a gruff nod, and that’s seemingly all he has for them, as he then turns to the judges for their commentary.

Siobhan is up first, as she has been for most of the dances tonight, and, surprisingly, neither has a disgusted look on her face nor says anything particularly offensive _(lena doesn’t think that’s really a lot to ask for from a judge, but it’s already an improvement over the last couple of weeks, for siobhan)._ She simply comments favorably on the samba elements included in the dance, and points out one small misstep she noticed. The comments from the other judges are much the same, and it’s not long before they’re getting their scores - three 7’s, their highest score yet, which they’re both very happy with.

As theirs was the last dance, they don’t get a chance to go up to the balcony to speak with Lyra, instead joining everyone else on the floor as the show cuts to commercial, to find out who will be staying another week, and who will be getting cut tonight.

Otis and Roulette are the ones to go, with Eve and William scraping by, likely through fan votes, as Lena can’t imagine their scores from tonight did them much good _(though she’s also still mulling over a theory that the people in charge of the show actually just decide who will be going home every week, irregardless of scores and votes. though that begs the question of what she’s still doing here. she’s still confused about why they asked her here in the first place)._

Roulette flashes everyone an obviously fake smile before walking calmly _(but rapidly)_ off the floor as Otis trails after her, looking a bit like a lost puppy _(if that wasn’t an insult to puppies),_ even as the judges look after them with a mix of confusion and unsurprised frustration. Snapper does nothing to stop them _(lena has to wonder how he’s kept his job)._

\----------

They make it through the press circuit with no pain, having a nice chat with Ada and brief interactions with a few other journalists once they’re politely but pointedly reminded that they’re there for a reason by an intern who runs away immediately afterwards, causing all three of them to burst into quiet laughter before Kara and Lena move along.

Now they’re making their way down the hall to remove their costumes so they can get out of the building, and she can feel Kara buzzing beside her. She waits her out _(she doesn’t have to wait very long)._

“Post-show game night!” Kara says very excitedly, causing a few heads to turn their way, and honestly, all Lena really wants is to go home and sleep, but Kara’s excited face is _very_ cute, and she’s been trying to be more social anyway _(her mind argues that being on a dance show and talking to people all night is social enough, but her mind loses this time)._

“Okay,” she says, and suddenly she can’t breathe; Kara is lifting her in the air and her arms are squeezing her just a little too tight as she jumps up and down. Lena slaps at her back _(it’s more like aggressive patting, really)_ until Kara lets her down and steps back with a sheepish grin and an adjustment to the glasses she’s not wearing. Lena hides her smile by looking down towards the floor for a moment, but she can feel her eyes crinkle up.

“Okay! Great,” Kara says, sounding a little breathless, “I’ll come get you after you change then?”

“Cool,” Lena says, letting Kara see her smile this time, even as she internally shakes her head at herself. _Cool? I sound like I’m in high school (not to mention they’re going to the same place to change - where’s she going to come get her from? a few feet and a curtain away?)._

But they’re soon out of their costumes and in Kara’s car _(with only minimal joking about lena’s choice of post-show clothing)(one joke is the minimum, apparently. though lena’s pretty sure it would have been higher, had she not quickly agreed to borrow some of kara’s clothes once they get to her apartment, lest she ‘be suffocated by her corporate clothes’)(...that may have to count as a second joke)._

After a harrowing ride _(kara may be good at many things - some of which lena is, admittedly, only speculating about - but she is decidedly not a good driver),_ they make it up to Kara’s apartment, where a few people are already waiting inside.

Lena is a little confused as to how, exactly, they got inside when Kara wasn’t there yet to unlock the door _(is she one of those people who leaves their door unlocked all the time?),_ until, as if on cue, Alex Danvers steps out of some hidden corner, grasping two beers in each hand.

Lena’s thankful she already knows that Alex is Kara’s sister, or she might have thought she was her girlfriend and gone into some kind of jealous fit _(not that she would have any right to do so. obviously)._

She’s _not_ so grateful, however, when Alex and Kara immediately fall into some kind of telepathic conversation, evidently aided only by their intense eye contact, which results in Kara’s concession, as she gives Lena an apologetic nod before making her way over to join Nia and Brainy _(it would be almost comical, the way the two simultaneously step further apart from one another upon kara’s arrival, were it not for the threat of whatever kind of talking-to she’s about to receive from alex)(and also the fact that lena is a useless lesbian herself. she’s not really in a position to laugh)._

Alex, on the other hand, takes a step closer to Lena, who calls on all of her practice to keep her face blank and not take a step back _(not that there’s really anywhere for her to go. she’s still right in the doorway)._

But Alex just reaches past her and uses the corner of the table beside the door to pop the tops off of the beers in one hand. It’s somehow more intimidating than anything else she could have done.

Or it is until she looks furtively around to make sure nobody else saw her. That makes it a bit less so. “Don’t tell Kara,” she says, “we can’t all be bottle-opening experts.” 

Lena arches an eyebrow, struggling to consolidate her initial fear with this Alex who evidently isn’t about to kill her for daring to step foot in her sister’s apartment, but unwilling to show that struggle. 

“She just flicks them off with her thumbs,” she elaborates, demonstrating with her own. “It’s been her favorite party trick since her first semester of college.” 

Lena can see it in her mind’s eye, and, to her horror, finds herself blushing slightly. She wills it away.

Alex rolls her eyes, clearly not as oblivious to Lena’s thoughts as Lena would like. “I know,” she says, offering one of the beers she’d opened to Lena _(lena doesn’t really drink beer, but she’s not going to jeapordize whatever this is that’s happening by telling alex that. she takes it and hides her wince as it goes down)._ “It’s really fucking gay,” she mumbles around the mouth of her bottle. Lena doesn’t know whether she’s meant to respond to that, so she just gives a shallow nod that she can hopefully deny if necessary and takes another swallow of beer.

After a few moments of silence _(no doubt comfortable for alex and distinctly less so for lena),_ Alex turns towards her, placing the two yet-to-be-opened beers on the table behind her so she can cross her arms, and leaning back against it _(though lena doesn’t think it’s really leaning so much as standing slightly off-balance. the table doesn’t look sturdy enough to hold a person’s weight. it makes up somewhat for the nerves that wash over her at the serious look on alex’s face)._

She chances a glance over towards Kara to find her watching them very unsubtly. _Okay. This is fine. Kara won’t let her sister murder me in her own apartment. Or anywhere else._ Alex clears her throat, drawing her gaze back to her.

“So,” she says, gesturing with the bottle in her hand, though it’s unclear what the gesture is supposed to signify. “I’m still upset with you, but I’m willing to mostly forgive you, since Kara really wants me to.” She pauses, for a moment. “And in honor of lesbian solidarity, and all that.” Lena thinks that this is probably not her first bottle of beer. “But know that if you ever do something like that again, we will be having another talk, and you will _not_ enjoy it as much as this one.” She pauses again, as though waiting for something, and Lena decides to take a risk.

“What makes you think I’m enjoying this one?”

There’s silence for a moment, even Nia and Brainy going quiet across the room. Kara’s eyes bulge, and the sight of it almost distracts Lena from worrying that she’s just made a huge mistake.

But then Alex starts laughing, swinging her free arm around Lena’s shoulder to pull her into a half-hug, and it’s like the rest of the room collectively exhales. “Okay, Luthor,” Alex says, “we can be friends now. But,” she sobers, “just remember what I said-”

Lena cuts her off, quiet but sincere. “I have no intention of doing anything to hurt Kara again, if I can help it. I might make a mistake, but I trust you to yell at me for it even if she won’t.”

And that settles things. Alex gives her a nod, to which Lena responds with her own, and she’s released to make her way back to Kara’s side, Alex following behind her and passing her remaining two beers to Nia and Brainy, both of whom look about as enthused as Lena had been to receive her own. Lena stifles her laughter in Kara’s shoulder, passing her bottle off to her to finish, ignoring the momentary thought that passes through her mind of Kara’s lips being in the same place hers had been a minute ago and letting the blonde wrap her in a hug, pressing said lips to her forehead briefly before tugging her in even closer.

The rest of the friends start to arrive immediately afterwards _(lena has the sneaking suspicion nia had texted a warning not to come in while she and alex were talking),_ and it’s not long before they’re all sitting down, drinks in hand and surrounded by snacks, to get started on the games part of the evening.

There’s a brief argument over what game to start with, Kara pushing for charades while Winn argues for Trivial Pursuit, with limited support for either one - it’s clear the situation is not an uncommon one, and nobody wants to take a side.

The standoff eventually ends, with Kara’s pick going first _(after several promises to winn that they’ll play his next),_ and that’s when Lucy pops in with a suggestion.

“Hey, guys, why don’t we do a live?” Another round of spirited debate begins, and, not really knowing what a ‘live’ even is, Lena elects to ignore it for the most part, leaning back into the couch and nursing her glass of scotch _(she’d received another nod from alex for that choice),_ lazily following the conversation back and forth.

Kara takes an active role in the debate at first, until the arm she has wrapped behind Lena jostles her enough to almost spill her drink, at which point she relaxes a bit, evidently more willing to let it go than to remove her arm from its position _(something lena is completely indifferent to. totally. obviously)._

Lucy gets her way in the end, setting up her phone on the kitchen table for _...videotaping?..._ whatever a ‘live’ is, at which point Lena promptly forgets about it, as she’s swept into a very enthusiastic game of charades.

Alex claims Kara as her partner immediately, to groans all around _(apparently the danvers sisters ‘dominate’ at charades and some of those present were hoping for a change-up of the teams tonight),_ leaving Lena to pair up with Sam _(alex, to her sister’s great amusement, had invited sam, maggie, and kelly tonight. lena’s pretty sure at least half of the reason she’d claimed kara so quickly was because she didn’t want to have to choose one of them over the others)._

They do..very badly. It’s probably half down to Lena’s inability to act out any of the words and half down to Sam’s _awful_ guessing skills _(a cow giving birth? what the fuck, sam?),_ because they do much better when Sam is acting and Lena is guessing.

It turns out to be surprisingly fun anyway, even when Alex gloats for a full five minutes after she and Kara win, as expected. A lot of things seem to be turning out that way lately _(more fun than expected, not with gloating. though..sometimes with gloating)._ It’s a nice change for her _(she can’t help but attribute it at least partially to kara’s presence)._ Usually things turn out to be worse than her already-bad expectations.

They move on to Trivial Pursuit afterwards, to placate Winn, who has been continually _‘reminding’_ them about their promise throughout charades. He’s the one to claim a partner first this time, and it’s _Lena,_ to her surprise.

It ends up being a good choice, because _they’re_ the ones to dominate this time, only missing one question before they have a streak that takes them all the way to the end of the game, at which point they are promptly banned from pairing up for that game ever again, so that the others get a chance to answer some questions too _(the proud look she receives from kara almost makes up for it though)(okay, maybe it completely makes up for it. winn is not so easily assuaged)._

But then, someone suggests a drinking game _(she’s not entirely sure who, with how quickly people pile on, and with what happens afterwards),_ and it’s a disaster waiting to happen from then on. 

\----------

“As a lesbian,” Lena says, and maybe she’s a little drunk and she doesn’t know how they got onto this topic, or even what said topic is at the moment.

“Supporter!” Winn shouts, cackling.

She kind of wants to throw something at him, but settles for emphatically pointing her finger. “As a fucking lesbian!” She doesn’t continue her sentence. She’s sure she was going somewhere with it before.

No matter, because Winn pipes up again with “As a lesbian fucker,” and then Kara’s arm is wrapped around him and her hand is covering his mouth.

Lena makes a show of thinking for a second _(although that second might drag out a bit; time is acting kind of strange right now)_ before shrugging casually with a “Well, yeah.”

Winn manages to escape from Kara as her arm seems to have gone a little slack. “I told you guys Lena was a top! Suck it!”

Lena raises an eyebrow. “Excuse you, did I say that?” She looks around for someone to back her up, but then, _oh, I don’t need someone to back me up, I’m the expert on this question._ “No? I didn’t fucking think so.”

He starts to respond, but Lena only hears half of it. Kara’s cheeks across from her are pink, and her eyes are _wide,_ but as Lena looks around, everyone else’s eyes are too, and as she follows their gazes towards the phone on the table her eyes follow suit. She drops her head into her hands and groans. “ _Fuck._ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the last scene may or may not be the first thing I wrote for this fic lmao


End file.
